


Blood of a Lion Cub

by thirteenthmurder



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: F/M, Jackie/Kim, Sid/Nygus, Steinxmarie, Witcher AU, brief mentions of TsuStar, soma if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 13:07:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 31,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16975146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thirteenthmurder/pseuds/thirteenthmurder
Summary: Witcher AU - Maka has lived with the Dryads in Brokilon forest almost her entire life, desperately trying to prevent an ancient prophecy tied to her bloodline. When a chance encounter with a Witcher entangled their fates, Maka must take down the Wild Hunt or watch the world burn.Submission for 2018 Resbang, Out of the Woods.Warnings: Minor and Major character deaths, scenes of murder gore and blood, language and violence.





	1. The Fall of Cintra

**Chapter 1 - The Fall of Cintra**

It happened in the middle of her mama’s funeral.

The ship had never made it to Skellige and they had nothing for the crypt. They were adding her mama’s precious jewels and clothing to the empty coffin when the bells tolled.

The kingdom was under attack. Knights came thundering down the stairs, calling for her papa. He called for two of the knights to take her through the passage. He began to run up the stairs, calling for generals, when something hit the castle.

That was when the screaming started.

One of the knights who were told to take her took off his helmet and bent down to speak to her. “Princess, we need to leave now. Please follow me.”

It was Joe Buttaki. He was trying to hurry her, but she wanted her papa. She was not going to leave without him.

“Please forgive me, Princess. There is no time”, he said. He hoisted her over his shoulder and ran towards the deeper parts of the crypt. He was taking her away from her papa! She had just lost her mama and now she was being taken from him too. Maka cried out, calling for her papa to come back.

Joe kept running. He tried to hush Maka but she wailed and struggled. She couldn’t help it. Maka knew she needed to be quiet but she had no idea what was happening. She didn’t know what to do, she might die down here and never see her papa again.

Her papa might die.

Maka’s sobs grew even louder.

The other knight, who was trailing behind them, growled, “Shut the fuck up, you brat!”

“Giriko, have some respect. Please be quiet, Princess, or they will hear you,” Joe said. “He will be here soon. Please be quiet,” the knight calmly said. He ushered her to a small nook in the crypt walls.

Maka pushed herself into the corner of the nook and made herself small.

Giriko caught up and drew his sword. Joe’s eyes snapped up at him from where he was trying to open the door to the escape passage. Giriko swung his blade.

Joe fell. Blood pooled from his neck. It took all of Maka’s energy not to scream. Giriko advanced. She tried to run but he grabbed her. His terrifying grin revealed teeth sharpened to points. He brought her closer to his face, “Just you wait, Princess,” he spat, “My master has plans for you.”

He grabbed her hair and wrenched it toward him making Maka scream and scratch at his fingers. He dragged her toward the door, Maka was crying from the white hot pain in her scalp and tying to detangle his fingers from her hair. He tried to unlock the secret passage. Joe had been struck down before he could locate the mechanism.

Maka’s nails cut into his skin and began to draw blood. Giriko yanked harder which made Maka dig her nails in deeper. He growled and threw her against the wall.

“You bitch!” Giriko growled at her, teeth bared. He rubbed at his bleeding hand and blindly felt around for the mechanism to reveal the secret door.

Maka’s vision was still swimming from where she had slammed her head against the wall. She could feel the skulls that were embedded in the stone cut into the exposed flesh of her arms. It hurt! All Maka could do was curl into a ball and bite her fist to muffle her cries.

She needed to find an escape.

Giriko was still cursing and struggling with the door; he began hitting and slamming against random sections of the alcove. He was distracted. Maka quickly took off her heels and crawled her way out of the alcove moving as quietly as she could across the stone floor. Her knees and hands hurt, but she kept moving. Every breath sounded so loud to her. Maka was terrified he would hear her, would see her. She tried to blend in the shadows and hide behind old tombs.

Maka heard Giriko swear. She tensed. He must have noticed her missing. She wasn’t very far from him. Her size worked to her advantage. Now barefoot, she moved silently between caskets.

She saw the light from Giriko’s lantern bounce off the walls. Panic bubbled up in her chest and her breathing became more ragged. Maka pushed herself against the stone of the casket she was hiding behind, trying to keep still and quiet. He was even closer than she’d thought. She could no longer duck and run without being discovered.

Giriko’s footsteps got closer and closer to where she was hiding and Maka curled up and held her breath. Everything she did felt so loud; her heart was pounding and she was almost certain he could hear it.

“Just you wait, you little bitch! When I find you I’m gonna make you hurt real bad!”

He was almost above her.

Maka felt a vibration like a scream trying to burst out. She held her shaking hands over her mouth and tried to stop any noise from escaping and pressed her aching back deeper into the stone wall.

The scream building in her throat was so close to exploding from her mouth when she heard the voices of people in the distance.

The knights! They had come back!

Maka released the breath she had been holding. And then a hand grabbed her.

Giriko dragged Maka from her hiding place. This time, Maka screamed as loud as she could, hoping she would be heard.

The lights and sound got closer. Maka struggled in Giriko’s grip and screamed for help again.

“Maka!” One of the knights yelled. It was her papa!

With one quick motion Giriko raised his sword to her throat. “One move and the bitch dies!” he yelled.

Her papa stopped.

One of the knights moved to notch an arrow.

Giriko growled and dug his blade deeper into her neck. Maka cried out as it bit into her skin.

Her papa yelled in a panic, barking orders at the knight to stop and drop his bow.

“Now you fuckers are gonna move outta the way. Me and the little bitch are gonna leave and not be followed. Got that?” Giriko yelled and yanked Maka’s hair.

Giriko’s arm was blocking a lot of Maka’s vision. She couldn’t see what her papa was doing.

Maka felt something in her stomach drop. What was her papa going to do? How could she get out of this? Out to him?

Maka’s drew sharp, shuddered breaths and felt tears swell in her eyes. There was a drawn out silence.

“Move aside”, she heard her papa say.

He was going to let the traitor take her.

“Good, now drop yer fucking swords”, Giriko said and then chuckled in Maka’s ear, “I can’t wait for the master to break you”.

Maka began to panic. She felt that scream from before build in her throat again. Everything grew hot and fuzzy, everything blurred as if she had started crying.

She was going to be sick. She was going to die.

She was going to die and whoever this master of Giriko’s was, would make it hurt.

Finally, the pressure became too much and Maka felt her scream tear through the air.

And then everything went black.


	2. New Home

Maka woke up on a horse, slumped against someone warm and familiar.

Blearily, she looked up and saw her papa. For a moment she wondered if she had dreamed the castle attack and she relaxed back into her papa’s arms.

Except instead of his soft cape and tunic he had a lumpy leather jerkin on. It dug into her back painfully and rubbed against the scrapes on the back of her arms. Her body ached all over and she just wanted to be back in her bed.

“Maks! You’re awake. How are you feeling?” Her papa looked down at her.

“Papa, where are we? What happened?” Maka asked, looking around and trying to find her bearings.

“We’re in Brokilon, sweets. You passed out when the knights shot Giriko. We rode out of the tunnel while you were asleep.”Her papa smoothed her hair down with one hand and steered the horse a little more towards the edge of the forest with the other.

“Oh,” Maka said and frowned. “What about the Dryads? Won’t they catch us?”

Her papa slowed the horse and looked down at her, “As long as we keep to the edge of the forest and stay quiet we should be okay,” he said. “Can you help me keep an eye out? Tell me if you see or hear anything?”

Maka went to reply when something spooked the horse. It reared up and started running deeper into the forest. Low hanging branches and thickets whipped Maka and her papa as he struggled to regain control of the animal.

By the time the horse was back under control, Maka had lost the path they had come from. She frantically looked around, trying to find anything that might tell her where they were or how far they had gone. Her papa pulled the reins to stop the horse and jumped down.

The forest around them was denser. There were brambles and rocks everywhere, the horse would struggle to carry them through this section of forest.

“It will be best if we go by foot now,” her papa said.

“Okay, papa.”

“Do you need help down?”

“Yes.”

Her papa helped her down and set her on a rock. Maka jumped off it and looked around.  
“Now where?” Maka asked.

Her papa pursed his lips. There was a rustle in the trees above and he whipped his head up and pushed Maka back.

An arrow smacked into her papa’s shoulder. He grunted in pain and stood over Maka, pleading with whoever shot him.

“Please! We mean no harm!” He yelled to the archer hiding in the trees.

Maka began to panic. Red bloomed and grew on the back of her papa’s shirt. Blood.

It was blood.

Fear bubbled up in her chest. Maka could feel the same scream from the crypt build in her chest.

“Please! Don’t hurt her!”

The pressure built and built until Maka was sure the scream would explode from her mouth. Her whole body grew hot and began to vibrate. Maka opened her mouth to scream.

Maka opened her mouth to scream, but before she could make a sound her world fell into darkness.

\--

She was dreaming.

Mama’s ship was setting sail, the flags whipping in the wind and her mama,waving at her from the deck. Maka waved back, smiling at her mama’s promise to return with gifts for her.

Then clouds began to roll in and Maka screamed out, begging her mama not to leave. But they did not listen. The ship pulled away from the dock and there was a mighty crack.

People were screaming. The hull split in two and began to sink. People were jumping overboard, many falling to their deaths and many more were drowning.

Fire broke out and everything around her began to burn.

Maka screamed for help, searching for her papa in the flames.

In front of her, Maka saw a figure. It was a child wearing black, muttering to themselves and cowering under the shadow of a snake.

The shadow struck, the child screamed and everything exploded around them.

The world became a vortex of fire and debris. Her papa, her mama, everyone she loved was swept away. Maka screamed. She helplessly watched the vortex spin faster and faster until an inky blackness swallowed everything.

The only ones standing were Maka and the other child who began to giggle. There was the sound of riders out in the distance.

Maka woke up.

She was in a crudely made bed in a building that looked like the hollow of a tree. Maka sat up and saw a woman barely dressed in skins and vines. The woman got up and walked out, calling out to someone in a strange language.

Maka looked around. Aside from the bed the ‘room’ was sparse save for a variety of vegetation. It all looked so strange, almost out of one of her mama’s stories.

Her mama told her that in the heart of the Brokilon forest lived the Dryads. She said there were enormous trees that opened their hearts to provide the Dryads with shelter. Everywhere there were flowers and vines, blooming all year round. Her mama said that not even the most beautiful of perfumes could compare to the smell and at the very centre of it all was something of a miracle.

Her mama always loved to talk of the healing springs that sat at the centre of the Dryad’s settlement.

Surely she wasn’t in the Brokilon sanctuary because her papa told her that they shot and killed all intruders. Maka got out of the bed and walked over to what appeared to be the door of the room. From there, she saw exactly what her mama had described in her stories.

Except Maka could never had imagined how beautiful it truly was. There were so many women milling around, tending to the plants. Some swam and lounged naked in the water of the pond.

Maka wished her mama was here to see this.

She felt a sharp pain in her chest that turned into a deep ache. Maka wanted to see her mama so bad. To hear her laugh joyously at the sight before Maka.

Maka sunk down into the dirt and began to cry quietly. Her mama was gone. Her home had been invaded and her papa was nowhere to be found.

Maka had never felt more alone.

She sobbed into her hands even harder until a hand grabbed her shoulder.

Hiccuping, Maka looked up and saw a group of women look down at her.

She went to ask what was going on but before she could speak, the women grabbed her. Maka panicked. She thrashed and tried to break free, but the women held strong.

“What’s going on! I want Papa!” Maka screamed.

They dragged her through the clearing towards one of the biggest trees there. Maka continued to fight them until one of the women dug her nails into her shoulder and hissed strange words at her.

They reached the tree. It was covered in moss and had a warm glow coming from behind a curtain of vines that covered the entrance.

One of the women entered and came back out. They parted the curtain and pushed Maka into the hollow of the tree.

Maka tried to run back out but the women shoved her back in. They forced Maka to her knees in front of a dais. The chamber itself was covered with plants and had furs spread across the floor. On the dais in front of her was a chair woven from branches and vines sat a woman with black hair. On the floor in front of her was her papa.

He stood up and tried to calm her down. The women let her go and Maka her papa pulled her up into a bone-crushing hug.

Maka held onto him as tight as she could and cried. She had no idea what was going on. She wanted to go back home.

Her papa stroked her hair and whispered to her, “It’s okay Maks. You’re okay.”

Maka felt a someone gently touch her shoulder. It was the black-haired woman.

“Hush, kitten,” the black-haired woman said, “all will be revealed in a moment, but you need to calm down first.”

Maka’s tears began to subside. The black-haired woman’s voice was kind and somewhat playful. She reminded Maka of her old nanny.

Maka slowly stopped hiccupping. and sat down on the floor with her papa. The woman returned to her seat and looked down at them. She was beautiful. She had long black hair twisted into complicated braids with vines and flowers decorating her scalp. She had a full figure that she barely covered with furs held together with vines.

“Now, kitten, your papa and I have made a deal”, she said, “You will stay here and we will train you until you are of age. Your papa here will stay until he gives me a child. Then he will leave. Do you understand?”

Just what did the woman mean give her a child. No one but mama could do that! Only mama!

Maka stood up.

“No”, Maka said, jutting her chin out in defiance, “I’m staying with papa!”

Maka crossed her arms and stepped in front of her papa. This woman wasn’t coming near him, and she definitely wasn’t going to separate them!

Her papa pulled her back down.

“Maks,” Her papa looked at her and reached over to take her hand, “You have to stay here with Blaire.”

“So then, don’t leave,” Maka said hoarsely, her tears starting up again.

“Stop crying,” Blaire said. Something in her voice made Maka obey without meaning to. Blaire spoke again, “You will stay and he will leave. That is final.”

Maka looked at her papa but he shook his head sadly. He was letting this happen. Maka felt tears well up in her eyes and they began to drip onto the damp earth below her.

“...no.” Maka said, defeated.

“Marie will take you to your lodgings, kitten. Your papa will stay here with me. He has work to do.” Blaire snapped her fingers at a blond woman standing by the entrance.

“Yes?” The blond-haired woman asked.

“Look after our little kitten please”, Blaire said, “I have business to attend to.”

“This way Maka”, the blonde said. Maka got up and walked behind the woman, looking back at her papa. He mouthed ‘I love you’ and an ‘I’m sorry’ at her before the vine curtain fell, concealing the doorway and leaving Maka alone with the blond.

“My name is Marie”, the woman said, “I will look after your training. If there is anything you need to know, please ask me.”

Maka stopped walking.

“Why? Why are they letting me stay here? And why does papa have to leave?”

Maka crossed her arms. Marie stopped and walked back towards Maka.

“Your papa made a deal with Blaire. If he does what she wants then you are allowed to keep your memories.”

“But why am I still alive? I thought Dryads killed everyone who enters Brokilon”, Maka asked.

Marie sighed.

“They need more girls to protect the forest. Many of the humans are trying to destroy the forest and are trying to kill the Dryads too.” Marie said, “Normally we get girls who have been left here because of sickness or because their family have too many mouths to feed. They take their memories and raise them as their own. They were going to do the same with you but…”

“But what?” Maka Asked.

“You’re special”, Marie said and looked at her.

Maka was confused. It must have shown because Marie spoke again.

“It’s complicated. You have special blood and Blaire believes there is a prophecy about you. She wants to make sure it doesn’t happen without having to kill you.”

When Marie said the word ‘kill’, Maka blanched.

“Let’s keep walking. Are you hungry, Maka?”

“No”, Maka said. Her thoughts were swirling around her head and she couldn’t think straight. The thought that she could be killed destroyed any appetite she had.  
Just what was going on? Maka was overwhelmed.

“Let’s go and look anyway. I still have to show you around the place”, Marie said.

They continued walking back towards the centre of the compound.

“The forest is full of life and magic,” Marie said, “The Dryads are deeply connected with nature, they have a special connection with this forest.”

“Will you teach that to me as well?” Maka asked.

“I’m not sure it is something you could achieve,” Marie replied, “However you will be trained to hunt, and to fight. You will learn to navigate and understand the forest and the land surrounding you.”

“Oh.”

“You will be trained as a proper Dryad.”

Marie and Maka walked to a large tree. Marie stopped out the front of it.

“This is where you will be sleeping,” Marie said and gently embraced Maka, “Welcome to your new home. I’m sure you will learn to love it here.”


	3. Encounter

Maka woke up from the same nightmare she’d been having since the attack on Cintra. It left a foul taste in her mouth.

She extracted herself from the pile of sleeping Dryads. Maka rinsed her mouth out in a nearby river and then washed herself quickly, trying to avoid wetting the intricate braid crown Tsugumi had twisted her hair into. She then walked over to Marie for breakfast. They sat on some logs eating dried meats and fruits they gathered from the forest.

Marie sighed, “I miss having access to campfires.”

“You know the rules, Marie”, Maka said and chewed thoughtfully.

When Maka finished eating she stood up and hurried to Blaire’s tree. Maka was eager to speak to Blaire, she was seventeen now. She was of age, and remembered the promise Blaire made with her all those years ago.

Maka had been living in the forest for nine years. After Cintra was invaded Maka wanted to travel, to see the world instead of hearing stories and ballads from her papa. As much as she loved his songs and the books he brought her, Maka wanted to experience it all herself.

Her papa would be here soon, he promised to come collect her and speak with Blaire, to convince her to allow Maka to leave the forest of Brokilon.

But Maka was impatient. Marie constantly critiqued her on this.

Maka parted the vine curtain and walked into Blaire’s tree. She bowed and and sat at Blaire’s feet as was custom.

Blaire was not on her throne, but lounging on the dais it sat on. Blaire looked up at Maka and smiled, watching as Maka bowed and sat before her.

“Kitten, come up here, you know custom is just for the humans”, Blaire said and patted the furs beside her.

Maka smiled softly and climbed up onto the dais. She sat down on the furs beside Blaire and turned to her, “Blaire, you know I’m seventeen now.”

“I know, kitten.” Blaire said and rolled onto her side to face Maka properly, “We will talk about you leaving but I need you to wait until later today to speak,”  
Blaire combed her fingers through Maka’s hair. “I’m afraid a few things will need to be taken care of before we talk about this further, my little lion cub.”

Maka leant into the touch.

“Please, Blaire”, Maka tried but Blaire just put a finger to Maka’s lips and shook her head.  
Defeated, Maka got up and left, heading to complete her chores before she worked more with Marie.

\--

Maka and Marie made their way into the forest for training.

Ever since the Conjunction of the Spheres sources of magic have been found everywhere. They are found in the four elements. Magic was in the water veins, in the roots and rocks, the earth and air. There was magic in fire.

Marie had been training Maka to use this magic for most of her life.

Even so, Maka was still a novice. She had a strong knowledge of the theory behind the work, but Maka knew Marie was holding out on her.

She would never teach Maka how to create a portal. It made sense because Blaire wanted to keep Maka in the forest for as long as she could. Maka knew it was to prevent her prophecy but it still stung that she was purposely being held back and not being taught certain skills.

And because of her prophecy Maka was forbidden to touch Fire as a source. Marie had told her it was too dangerous, not just because the forest forbade fire, but because of the seductive and destructive nature of fire magic.

Today Marie had her using the earth as her source. She was teaching Maka about sensing the location of others, scouting ahead as far as she could.

Maka liked learning and training in earth magic. Sensing other’s locations was incredibly useful, especially in the forest. It would save so much time with patrols and help reduce the amount of Dryads they lost to groups of mercenaries. Maka enjoyed how practical Maire’s teachings were. She had heard of other novices being proficient in appearance altering spells, using them for their own vanity. It was such a waste of magic and energy.

Maka listened to Marie’s instructions for her practice and sat down. She pressed a palm to the damp soil and closed her eyes.

It was tiring. Maka followed roots and worms, using her perception to creep forward. Each little centimetre moved slowly, like trying to walk knee-deep in thick mud. Maka’s perception was fuzzy at best but it was getting better. She could see the shapes of animals and feel the vibrations of their movements.

She was trying to keep up with a stag when she saw and felt them. There were three humans in the forest. Maka released the source immediately and alerted Marie before heading towards them.

Maka moved silently through the forest and approached the three intruders. Her heart was pounding. There were two men and a woman. The woman wore dark clothes and had no visible weapons. The men both had multiple weapons and leather armor.

Maka crept closer and notched an arrow. She controlled her breathing and calmed herself. This wasn’t the first time she had encountered intruders.

Maka aimed for the man in the lead. He was making an awful ruckus and hacking away at the forest. If any other Dryads were nearby he would have been killed in an instant.

Aimed at the exposed part of his neck, Maka released her arrow.

The arrow flew forward. The loud man, fast as lightning, dodged the arrow just enough that it merely grazed the side of his neck instead of piercing it. He and his party jumped back and prepared to fight.

Fuck. She missed.

Maka’s element of surprise was gone. She cursed and prepared to fight, drawing from the sources of power around her.

Three on one. 

She had slim chances but knew Marie was coming to back her up. And boy could she, Marie could pack a nasty punch when the occasion called for it.

Maka notched a second arrow and aimed for the loud man again. But she missed.

He moved fast and silently. Before she knew it, he was upon her and Maka had to dodge.

She moved out of the way of his punches, dodging most of them by millimeters. Then he did something completely unexpected.

He jumped back and held up a palm. 

Maka was thrown backwards against a tree.

It was the Aard sign. Maka cursed, she was fighting a fucking Witcher.

Damn it all to hell. Maka tried to recall what Marie and her papa told her about Witchers. She couldn’t let her emotions get the best of her. Maka needed to think, and fast.

Maka tried to attack again. Her head was spinning from slamming against the tree but she could still focus. She lunged forward at the loud one again.

He blasted her with another sign.

His friend, the white-haired one, stepped forward. He held a palm up and Maka growled. The motherfucker was also a Witcher. He blasted her with the sign too. Together the men pinned her down. The pressure from their signs was intense and Maka couldn’t help but cry out in pain as it buffeted her.

That was when Marie burst through the trees and aimed a spell at the Witchers. Thank fucking god.

They flew backwards and Maka jumped at the loud bastard. Using her magic, Maka put as much strength into her fist as possible and hit him square in the face.

He howled and went down. Maka continued hitting him. His white-haired friend grabbed her by the neck and pulled her off the loud man.

Maka screamed and thrashed. She couldn’t breathe.

Just where in the hell was Marie?

Maka continued to struggle in the white-haired Witcher’s grasp. Panic rose up in her. She couldn’t breathe. She was going to die.

Panic welled up and Maka felt the same buzzing sensation she had as a child. It was a power that was climbing its way out from her mouth to protect her.

Maka opened her mouth to scream.

And the pressure stopped. The white-haired Witcher released his hold on her throat.

Maka rolled over, coughing and gasping. She looked up at the Witcher, trying to understand why she wasn’t dead.

He looked confused. Maka followed his line of sight and saw Marie and the woman embracing.

“What the fuck?” Maka said, her voice hoarse, “Marie?”

Marie didn’t hear her. Maka shot the white-haired witcher a dirty look for robbing her of her voice.

The white-haired witcher rubbed the back of his head and loudly cleared his throat.

“Uhh…” He said.

Marie and the other woman broke apart. Marie walked over to Maka and pulled her up.

“Maka, this is Tsubaki,” Marie said and moved aside, allowing Maka to see Tsubaki better, “She is one of the sorceresses in the Lodge.”

Maka dusted herself off, shooting the white-haired Witcher another dirty look and turned to Marie. Maka raised an eyebrow. Why was one of the most powerful sorceresses here in Brokilon with two Witchers by her side?

Marie gave her a ‘will explain later’ look.

“Why are you here?” Maka asked and crossed her arms. Her voice was rough and her whole body hurt. She felt like shit.

“I’m here to see Marie,” Tsubaki replied. She had a soft melodic voice with a slight accent.

“You’re half elven,” Maka said frankly. Tsubaki blanched a little at Maka’s blunt statement. Tsubaki’s soft accented voice paired with her lithe body an unnatural beauty revealed her heritage.

Tsubaki brushed dust off her pants, trying to recover her wits. “I am,” she said.

Maka nodded and motioned towards the two Witchers “And why the fuck do you need to travel with Witchers?”

Marie stepped in front of Maka, “We can discuss this later, Maka. We must return to Blaire.”

They all trekked back toward the compound. The loud Witcher alternated between shooting overly enamoured looks toward Tsubaki and glaring at Maka.

Maka hardly noticed the loud Witcher’s glares as she was too busy glaring at the white-haired Witcher and rubbing her tender throat.

They reached the compound and both Witchers stared at their surroundings with their mouths wide open like fools. Dryads flocked around them until they saw Maka shake her head. These men were useless to them. They were infertile monsters who held no practical use for the Dryads here. They should have stayed out of the forest.

Maka huffed and moved closer to Marie and Tsubaki. The women were talking in hushed tones as they walked, ignoring the others entirely. Maka crept closer to them, trying to hear what they were saying but Maire gave Maka a look once she was within earshot of their conversation.

Maka definitely didn’t want to get on Marie’s bad side. Marie wasn’t Blaire’s liaison for nothing.

The crowd of Dryads dispersed as they reached Blaire’s tree. Maka stood to the side, leaning against its ancient trunk, and allowed the others to pass.

It was clear to Maka that this was not something she would be involved in. As much as she resented that fact, she was resigned to follow Blaire’s rule.

Leaning against the door Maka eyed off the spring in the centre. She would submerge herself later to heal her wounds and help the horrible ache in her throat. 

Fuck it. 

Maka pushed herself off the tree and headed toward the spring. She had taken her first step when she heard Blaire call for her.

“Kitten! A word if you will.”

Maka sighed. Healing would have to wait. However she was glad to finally be included in these discussions. Maka pivoted and pushed aside the vine curtain. She entered the room, bowed and sat before Blaire’s feet by the others. At a time like this it was important to uphold custom. Especially since there were Witchers present.

“Now shall we begin?” Blaire said with her typical flirty tone. “I take it there are signs that he has returned? Am I correct, Tsubaki?”

Maka tilted her head and looked at Tsubaki. The white-haired witcher did the same, the rest of the party did not look surprised. What shocked Maka was that the loud Witcher was included in this information. Maka had thought the man to be nothing but a monster slayer.

Tsubaki ignored their looks, “Yes. There are signs that he and the Hunt are close. The signs have been getting stronger ever since the attack on Cintra.”

Maka’s head was spinning. Just who hell was Tsubaki and what the fuck was ‘The Hunt’? She had so many questions.

“Has he found you yet?” Blaire asked.

“He has come close a few times.” Tsubaki said, picking at her nails.

The loud one glanced at Tsubaki and spoke up, “She followed your suggestion and stopped using her magic, however he always seems to be on her trail.”

“There’s something else…” Tsubaki said cast a side-long glance toward Maka.

Blaire leant forward and put her hand on her chin, “go on,” she said.

“It’s about the Wild Hunt. I’ve heard they’re searching for the elder blood.”


	4. Prophecies

After her papa left the forest Maka cried for days. She refused to touch her food and would not speak to anyone.

One day it got too much for Maka to bear. She gathered supplies and ran off into the forest, trying to escape Brokilon and find her papa.

She didn’t get very far. One of the Dryads caught her and dragged her back to the camp screaming.

She was inconsolable. Maka cried and continued to scream. The Dryads crowded around and watched her carry on.

Blaire parted the crowd and stood over Maka. Marie was by her side.

“Enough!” Blaire said, her golden eyes flashing in anger.

Maka ignored her. She wanted her papa! Why did he leave her here? She was alone. Maka cried harder. Her screams turned into hoarse shrieks.

“Stop crying this instant”, Blaire said, her voice strained with frustration. She wanted to hold the child’s head under water and erase the damned brat’s memories. But she couldn’t. To ensure the prophecy was not fulfilled, Maka needed to keep her memories.

Blaire cursed under her breath. Maka was becoming hysteric. She nodded at Marie. Maka needed to be calmed before Blaire could talk with her.

Maka saw Marie utter a spell and lean toward her, her palm outstretched.

She panicked, thrashing around in one of the Dryad’s grip, “Don’t touch me!” she screamed.

Marie gently touched Maka’s temple and Maka passed out.

She dreamt of a child.

They were lying on a table in the centre of laboratory. This one looked far more menacing than the one in Cintra. The room was filled with all sorts of strange contraptions. Ones that looked like they would hurt.

There were shelves lined with jars of preserved organs and bloodstains splattered the stone floors, concentrated heavily around the table.

This was not a good place.

Gooseflesh prickled up her arms and on the back of her neck from the cold. Maka walked closer to the child at the centre of the room. As Maka got closer she realised the child was strapped to the table with thick leather belts.

He was screaming for help.

“Mama! Please!” The child cried and struggled in his bonds.

Maka steeled herself and moved to begin untying him but she was interrupted by a shadow standing above them.

“Mama! No!”

The shadow, a woman, plunged a syringe into the child’s neck. Inside the vial was a black inky substance that swirled and made the hairs on the back of Maka’s neck rise.

The child screamed. The woman pushed the plunger, forcing the black substance into the child’s veins. His scream turned into a roar. The room began to vibrate. And as the last drops of liquid left the vial a cloud of darkness exploded around them, throwing the woman into the stone wall.

The darkness pulsed as the child continued to roar. They writhed within their bonds. Maka tried to calm them but nothing would work. As the child thrashed the darkness began to move, spinning and pulsing.

It spun faster and faster until it became a vortex.

Everything in Maka screamed danger. Her heart was racing and she was shaking just as much as the room was.

Maka stepped back. Lightning began to form and crackle around the edges of the vortex. It was closing around her, swallowing the room.

Maka began to hyperventilate. She dropped to her knees and huddled into a tight ball but the vortex continued to creep toward her, the circle slowly getting smaller.

A voice erupted from the child’s mouth as the darkness surrounded her. It was guttural and unnatural.

“You will be mine!” It hissed.

Darkness touched her arm and began to consume her. 

Maka screamed.

And she woke up.

\--

Maka was in Blaire’s bed. She felt the soft warmth of a tiger pelt enveloping her. Maka opened her eyes and saw Blaire leaning over her.

“Have you calmed down yet, kitten?”

Maka remembered where she was. She had tried to run away after her papa left. She felt empty but could not cry for her loss. All she felt was the lingering cold, a prickling sensation where the vortex had begun to devour her. Her nightmare haunted her.

All Maka wanted to do was curl up and let the world disappear but she was afraid to close her eyes. What was beyond that vortex?

Who was beyond that vortex?

“Kitten?” Blaire said and crossed her arms, “did you hear me?”

Maka looked up and realised she had not answered Blaire. Maka rubbed her eyes and sat up.

“Yes,” she said, her voice was rough from her screaming, “I am calm.”

“Good. We shall have a little talk, you and I.”

“I’m really sorry I tried to escape,” Maka said, rubbing away the tears that began to form, “I miss my papa. He’s all I have left.”

“I know, kitten. But you must promise me to never run away again.” Blaire said, touching the top of Maka’s head. The touch was soft but Blaire’s expression was stern.

“Why can’t I leave?”

Blaire crawled into the bed with Maka. Maka moved aside to give her the room.

“You know of prophecies, yes?” Blaire asked.

Maka nodded.

“Good. Now a long time ago, the elves experimented with magic to create a stronger bloodline. A powerful source of magic that could help defeat the humans. They had several subjects but many were lost and all of the research disappeared.”

Maka listened and nodded along.

“There was only one known successful source and she fell in love with a human, betraying her kind. She was with child when they began to hunt her.”

“I know this story,” Maka interrupted, “The elven woman was hunted and with her dying breath she gave birth to her child and cursed the humans. Later a descendant cast a curse, saying the son of her descendants would destroy the kingdoms and burn the lands they lived on.”

“That is correct.” Blaire said, “but there is more. Some say those with the Elder Blood carry death and destruction within them, sowing hatred in the hearts of men. While others believe it is a powerful but uncontrollable gift.”

“But what does that have to do with me?” Maka asked.

Blaire propped herself up onto her elbow, “You are one of her descendants.”

Maka bolted upright, “I’m what?!”

“You are a descendant of Maaba, the Elder Blood courses through your veins. That is why you have those outbursts. You are a source of power, Maka. A powerful one.”

Maka was bewildered. Her head spun. She had the Elder Blood? She was a source of ancient magic? How in the hells could that be possible? She had so many questions but could get none out.

It took her a few minutes to process. Blaire waited patiently for her to speak, giving her the time she needed.

“So why am I here? Is my blood why they attacked Cintra?” Maka asked.

“Yes kitten. The kingdoms want you for their own power. They want your child.”

“But -”

“Yes, even if you are still just a child. They would keep you locked away until you are of age. However, Cintra was not attacked by a king.” Blaire said, her voice growing angry.

“Who attacked it?”

“A traitor.” Marie stepped into the room with clenched fists.

Blaire got up and helped Maka out of bed, “Come now. You must train with Maire now. She will teach you more.”


	5. His Prophecy

“...Oh.” Maka said.

“The Hunt is after you,” Tsubaki said, her voice strained.

“WHAT?!” The loud Witcher jumped up.

“Black Star! Back down!” The white-haired Witcher hissed.

“Fuck off, Soul. We headed straight to their fucking target!”

Blaire stood from her throne.

“ENOUGH!” She yelled. Her eyes were fierce and commanding. Black Star shrunk under her gaze and sat back down.

“What do I do?” Maka was freaking out. The Wild Hunt - whatever the hell it was - was after her, after her blood.

Just why was it so important? Fuck Maaba’s curse. Fuck the elves who created the bloodline.

Fuck everyone!

Maka buried her head in her hands. She grew up confined in Brokilon. She knew nothing of the world, had seen nothing, experienced nothing. And now she was being hunted?

Now she could be killed?!

Maka couldn’t control the shuddered gasps that erupted from her.

Great. She was crying.

“They were after me too.” Soul spoke.

It fell silent. Maka looked up from her hands and at Soul.

He was a curious looking man. His eyes looked almost red in the light from the glowing mosses. His hair was stark white and when he talked it looked as if his teeth had been filed to sharp points. He would have looked monstrous, save for his slumped posture and the sad, haunted look in his eyes.  
“Why?” It was Marie who broke the silence.

Soul scrubbed the back of his head. He sighed and pulled out a knife that had been hidden in his boot.

Everyone flinched, save for Black Star and Blaire. Maka had a hand on her own dagger, waiting. Just what was he planning?

Soul held his other hand up in a sign of peace. Everyone relaxed. Maka moved her hand back into her lap. Marie and Tsubaki eased their posture slightly, trying to relax and understand what Soul would do.

He lowered his free hand and held it open, palm facing the sky. He brought the knife to it and sliced the blade across his flesh. Beads of blood began to blossom from the cut.

His blood was black.

His blood was black!

It was a thick viscous black that welled and oozed. It terrified the hell out of Maka, reminding her of her nightmares. Of the black liquid in that little vial. Of the black vortex that swallowed her, speaking to her in a menacing promise. You will be mine.

Maka, out of reflex moved backwards. Trying to add a bit of distance between herself and whatever coursed in Soul’s veins.

“They were after me too. Medusa…” He spat, “She was the sorceress responsible for my group’s trials.” He said, and began to haphazardly wrap his hand with a cloth he had pulled from his pocket, “...She experimented with the formula. Lord Death thinks she had tried and failed to create a synthetic Elder Blood.”

Maka looked at him, she leaned closer toward him now that the blood had been hidden from her sight, “What do you mean failed?” She asked.

Soul looked away, focusing his gaze on the vines climbing the inside of Blaire’s tree. After a few minutes of silence he replied, “Just that. I’m a failure. The blood is defective.”

Maka couldn’t help it, her heart broke for him. He was a powerful man, but in this moment he looked incredibly weak. Defeated.

More silence passed.

Then Blaire spoke up, “What do you mean by were? Why is the hunt no longer after you?”

Soul locked eyes with Maka. She realised she was staring at him and looked away, embarrassed. When she looked at him again he had turned back to Blaire.

“They know I’m a failure.”

There was a weight in that simple sentence. He said it as if he could barely get the words out. The women in the room drew a sharp breath. Black Star looked away angrily.

He had been captured. 

Maka didn’t know what had happened to him, what they did, but she understood that whatever it was would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Silence permeated the room. No one wanted to make eye contact.

Maka had so many questions. Her head was spinning. What was she going to do? What was anyone here going to do about the situation?

Today was supposed to be a day of celebration. Today she was supposed to be free.

A weight settled upon her shoulders. Everything in her body was tired. Her muscles hurt. Her throat hurt. Her head hurt.

Her heart hurt.

Blaire broke the silence once more, asking a question Maka had on the tip of her tongue.

“So what now?” She said and turned to Tsubaki, “Why did you come to us?”

Tsubaki stood and bowed.

“I need to speak with Marie.” She said and turned to look at Maire, “Masamune has something planned. Please. I need your help.”

“Of course.” Marie said. She looked to Blaire for confirmation.

Maka knew that look. She had witnessed their silent conversations most of her childhood. Marie was not asking Blaire for anything. Marie had already decided she would help.

Blaire nodded.

Marie stood and lead Tsubaki away to speak privately. Black Star moved to follow but Tsubaki stopped him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder and shaking her head.

This was a conversation she needed to have. Alone.

Everyone else stood up once the women left. The conversation was finished. Blaire looked at Maka.

“You know the rules here. Make sure they do too,” Blaire said.

Maka nodded. There was a lot for her to process, let alone give the Witchers a tour of her home.

So Tsubaki was on the run from her brother, who was trying to kill her. Her brother had joined the Wild Hunt, who was hunting Maka. Who had already captured Soul.

And from Soul’s body language, Maka knew she would be better off dead than in the hands of the Wild Hunt.

What confused Maka the most was why a sorceress attacked Cintra and not a king. Just who was this sorceress?

What the fuck was going on?

Everything swirled around her head as Maka lead them out of Blaire’s tree. She walked forward a few paces, still trapped in her head.

Someone behind her cleared their throat.

Maka snapped out of her thoughts and stopped. She turned around to face Soul and Black Star.

Maka held up a finger, “Rule number one: No fire.”

Black Star exploded, “Are you fucking serious?!” He moved forward angrily.

Soul tried to restrain him, to pull him back but Maka was having none of their shit. She marched forward until she was chest to chest with Black Star.

“Yes, I fucking am,” she spat punctuating each word with a jab, “And you will follow it. Understand?”

Black Star opened his mouth to retort. Before he could utter what Maka assumed was a stupid retort thye saw Tsubaki running toward them.

Soul was the first to react. He met her halfway.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, hands hovering around Tsubaki as she doubled over for breath.

Tsubaki caught her breath. She straightened up and spoke with urgency, “We need to leave.” She said, “Azusa has seen something.”

Black Star moved to Tsubaki, looking at her with concern. Soul stepped back.

“We need to leave. Now!” Tsubaki said, Maka could hear the panic rising in the sorceress’ voice.

Soul moved back into Tsubaki’s personal space. From the way the men hovered it was clear Tsubaki rarely acted this way. She looked scared.

Maka felt scared. Something was happening.

Marie came running down to meet them. She ran past Tsubaki and straight to Maka.

“Azusa must speak with you.”

“Does that mean….?” Maka trailed off.

“You must go with them. It’s important.” Marie replied. She shoved a full pack into Maka’s arms. It was filled with Maka’s meagre possessions and supplies for the road.

Maka had readied it days earlier to use once Blaire had given her permission to leave.

And apparently she was leaving now.

While not upset she was being told to leave, Maka was concerned about the reason. She had heard about Azusa. She was the head priestess of the Temple of Melitele, a sanctuary for girls and home to many prophets including Azusa herself. Azusa and Marie were close friends and Maire often relayed messages from Azusa to Blaire.

Something must have happened with Maka’s prophecy. For Azusa to call Maka to the temple it had to be important.

Maka took her pack from Marie. She ran into one of trees to change out of sight. She shed her forest camouflage and pulled on a pair calf-skin trousers, and a fitted leather bodice that she pulled over a loose-white blouse. Maka pulled on socks and worn leather boots and hurried back out, trying to get used to wearing boots again.

The others had finished replenishing their food stocks and were readying to leave. There was just one question.

“How are we getting there? We haven’t any horses.” Maka said.

Her new travelling companions turned around. It was clear they had not thought about that. Ellander was quite a distance to walk to ‘urgently’. And to Maka’s knowledge, there were not many settlements nearby who could afford to part with four horses. They would have to travel to a garrison or a town for that.

Marie spoke up, “Portal.” She said, “We will have to leave the forest first, and I can only get you to the outskirts of Ellander. It is too dangerous to send you straight to the temple. Azusa placed safeguards.”

“Lead the way.” Tsubaki said and stepped aside.

They headed toward the outskirts of Brokilon. Despite the circumstances Maka couldn’t help but feel giddy. She was finally able to leave. She would finally see the world for herself.

She hoped she would like what she saw.


	6. Brother, Sister

At the edge of the forest Marie opened her arms wide and spoke an incantation Maka had never heard before. It must be the spell for the portal.

Maka watched as what she assumed was the portal rapidly expand into a swirling black void with golden fire rippling around the edges. It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time. It looked dangerous, like something you did not want to stumble into.

And they were going to walk straight into it.

Maka looked over at the others. Tsubaki looked unfazed and stepped right through, Black Star nervously followed. Maka turned toward Soul who looked at the portal in disgust.

He looked back at her.

Maka shrugged and stepped forward into the portal. The void dragged her in, surrounding her with darkness.

And then she stepped out.

Maka found herself at the base of an enormous tree, its branches spread and tangled, blocking out the sunlight. She could barely see the silhouette of Tsubaki and Black Star just ahead.

Soul jumped out from the portal and it closed behind him with a loud pop. He was resting his hands on his knees, looking queasy. Maka walked over to him.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Soul wiped his mouth and grunted, looking around.

“Aw, fuck,” he grumbled and then called out, “Star!”

“Yeah, I know,” Maka heard Black Star grumble back as they moved closer.

The caught up to where Black Star and Tsubaki were standing. Soul’s eyes were darting around as if he were worried something would appear in the shadows. Black Star and Tsubaki appeared as if they too were on edge. 

Wherever they had been sent to was not a place they wanted to be. Something was out here.

Maka moved closer to Soul, “What’s going on?” she whispered.

Soul looked back at her, “Marie dropped us in a primordial forest,” he answered her, matching her whisper.

Maka shivered. Blaire had told her of places like these. They were ancient forests, home to powerful monsters and relicts. It was somewhere you did not want to wander into unprepared.

And yet here they were.

Soul turned back towards Maka and Tsubaki, “We need to leave,” he said.

“How?” Maka asked. She had no idea where she was and doubted even the best trackers could navigate their way out after being teleported deep within the forest.

“I know there was a primordial forest just south of Azusa’s temple. Except I have no idea where we are, or just how deep in we ended up.” Tsubaki’s voice shook slightly.

Soul looked at Maka, “Can you teleport us out?”

Maka opened her mouth to answer when a bone-chilling roar erupted from the forest in front of them.

Something was coming.

Crows began to gather in the distance, she could hear their screeches, and much closer came a fast-paced rhythmic sound of branches swaying. It was a sound no gust of wind could replicate.

Soul gripped Maka by the shoulders and shook her, “Can you or not?!” he hissed. Maka could hear the urgency in his voice and that terrified her all the more. Whatever was coming was not something the Witchers felt comfortable facing in combat.

This was bad.

“No!” She pulled herself out of Soul’s painful grip, twisting away from him.

“Fuck!” He turned back around toward the noise and stood in front of Maka. She saw Black Star do the same with Tsubaki.

Just what had them so concerned? Maka moved closer to Tsubaki, she was Marie’s friend so surely she could be trusted. She could hear whatever it was getting closer.

She could see Tsubaki’s fear.

“Do you know what it is? Can we fight it?” Maka whispered to the sorceress.

“It’s a Leshen,” was all Tsubaki said.

Maka’s blood ran cold. They were so fucked.

She had learned of Leshens from her papa’s stories and then later heard the less doctored version from Blaire.

Leshens were fearsome, shape-shifting creatures. Some believed they were old gods, protecting the ancient primordial forests from man’s destructive touch. Witchers believed they were relicts. Ancient beings that were fiercely territorial and commanded the power of the land they lived in.

She had heard they can shape-shift into a hoard of crows. That they can command nearby beasts and impale warriors with roots from a great distance.

Maka eyed the silver sword Soul wielded and the daggers Black Star brandished, holding them defensively in front of his chest.

They were going to die.

The sound got closer. A tall figure appeared in the shadows. A mighty roar sounded and it was upon them.

Roots shot up through the earth. The Witchers threw themselves backwards. The roots barely missed impaling Black Star as he sliced them to ribbons with his daggers.

The Leshen roared. And stepped out from the shadows.

Maka gasped. She felt cold.

Its tall lithe body was made of wood. Scraps of fabric hung on its waist, held by ropes that were decorated with the skulls of its victims. Its chest was coated in moss and lichen, with wayward branches jutting from its shoulders like spikes. Each massive arm ended with sharp wooden claws and its head was a deer skull, bone white with glowing eyes peering out from the sockets.

Maka had never encountered anything so utterly terrifying.

They had no hope.

“Watch it!” Soul yelled.

Maka looked up and saw roots shooting toward her. She was jerked back suddenly, the roots slicing her cheek and just missing her eye.

Tsubaki released her and jumped away. Maka needed to focus. How could it move so fast?

Then she heard howling.

It had called for wolves.

Maka pulled out her bow. Tsubaki could handle the long range attacks. She could pick the wolves off, making sure they didn’t get close.

She fired arrow after arrow, downing the wolves as they approached. But they kept coming.

Behind her she heard the Witchers struggling just to fend off the Leshen’s roots.

They needed a miracle to get out of here.

Suddenly Black Star yelled in pain. He had been thrown to the earth and was trapped. The roots were crushing him, pulling him into the earth as he screamed in pain.

“Star!” Soul yelled and started hacking at the roots, trying to free his friend. He didn’t see the Leshen’s hand swing toward him, claws extended.

Maka screamed.

And there was fire.

The Leshen howled as the flames engulfed its body. Behind her Maka heard Tsubaki screaming, trying to boost the power of her spell long enough for the Witchers to recover.

The Leshen’s screams of pain echoed through the forest as it burned. Maka turned away. She couldn’t watch.

Instead she dispatched the remaining wolves, the ones that did not flee once the Leshen’s hold on them was released.

She kept her back to the burning relict until its screams stopped and she heard its body crash to the forest floor.

Maka turned to look at everyone.

Black Star cut the remainder of the roots and pulled himself up. He rushed to Tsubaki, his hands flying everywhere making sure she was ok.

“We need to leave,” Tsubaki said. Her voice was like stone.

She had used her magic.

He could find her.

A portal appeared. Tsubaki looked at Soul. Maka had no time to react before Soul grabbed her by the wrist and pushed her into the opening.

Tsubaki felt Black Star grab her by the waist and pull her through the portal.

They landed in the woods by the gates of Ellander. Maka was staring open-mouthed at the marbled walls in awe.

Tsubaki had forgotten just how little of the world Maka had seen. It worried her. Maka was so inexperienced and with everything happening, Tsubaki could not be around to protect the girl. Not until Masamune was dead.

Tsubaki walked toward Soul, who was both surveying the area and keeping an eye on Maka. 

“We can’t stay,” Tsubaki said gravely, “He’s tracking me. Stay with her?” Tsubaki gestured to Maka.

Black Star was already at her side, waiting. She saw Soul’s eyes widen in realisation.

If they stayed, the Hunt would find Maka. The sole source of pure Elder blood.

Soul nodded and walked to Maka. Trying to explain the situation.

Maka crossed her arms in disagreement and looked over toward Tsubaki and Black Star. They continued to argue for a few minutes before Tsubaki saw Maka throw her arms up in defeat.

Soul turned around and nodded. Maka understood.

Tsubaki squared her shoulders. She conjured another portal. Together she and Black Star stepped through.

This had to end. One way or another.

They landed in an open field. The minute Black Star set foot in the area he was already surveying, checking for monsters, for civilians, for traps.

Tsubaki had taken them back to a place she once knew quite well. It was here that she had first discovered she had the potential to become a sorceress. She and Masamune both.

Tsubaki and Masamune were born on a ‘lucky’ moon. When the sorceresses came to see the baron about an artifact, they found the twins playing directly on a place of power. Directly on top of where their artifact had been buried.

The artifact was a twin set of elven daggers inlaid with emerald, and gold, and a lost elven power.

Suffice to say, they were taken to be trained immediately.

That was a long time ago.

Now Tsubaki had come back to face her twin. And only one of them could walk away from this place alive.

It was going to be her.

Tsubaki sat in the centre of the field. She waited as Black Star set traps, lying in wait for possible ambushes.

A lot had changed since Tsubaki was here last. Yet the field had remained the same.

She took out her dagger, the emerald and gold inlay glinting in the afternoon light. Masamune would not be far off.

Her brother had been snapping at her heels like a rabid dog for a year and a half now. It seemed his quest for power had finally driven him to the Hunt.

She was his initiation, a show of loyalty to Asura and his band of depraved riders. Her death would cement her brother’s position - giving him the immortality and power he hungers for.

The sun dipped lower in the sky. Clouds flooded the sky above Tsubaki and an icy wind whipped her hair around.

Tsubaki stood and spoke, “How poetic of you, brother.”

Masamune appeared at the edge of the field.

“Sister!” he yelled, approaching her slowly with his arms out, “How pleasant to finally see you.”

His voice was cold.

Tsubaki didn’t hesitate. She struck first, flinging curses at him as he began moving toward her.

He lazily dodged her magic, coming to a stop a few metres from where Tsubaki was standing.

Then he countered, calling forth an enormous fireball. He threw it toward Tsubaki, who barely moved out of the way. The heat scalded her and the flames burnt the tips of her hair.

Tsubaki summoned roots, pushing them to shoot upward around Masamune’s feet. The shot out of the earth and tore at him mercilessly. He wasn’t dodging.

Tsubaki was terrified. Why wasn’t he dodging? What was he planning?

The fire’s siren song had trapped him. She could see his breathing increase, his fingers curled into claws and grin grew into a crazed snarl.

What little sanity and sense Masamune had left was gone.

He launched a barrage of fire attacks. Tsubaki dodged them, weaving in and out of the way as she moved closer toward him.

The pull of fire had overtaken him, he was getting sloppy with his spells and his aim. The power was getting to his head. Masamune cackled, as a ring of flames encircled them, cutting off any chances of escape.

Tsubaki took a breath and wiped the sweat off her brow. She brandished her dagger.

And struck.

Masamune may have been able to hone his magic as he was hunting her but Tsubaki had not been idle. Black Star was not just her companion, not just her bodyguard.

She had been training. To kill.

The blade hit him. It sliced across his stomach with ease.

Masamune looked down and back at Tsubaki. He held a hand to his stomach and healed himself. With the other he hit Tsubaki with a pulse of magic, throwing her backward.

Tsubaki cursed and got back onto her feet. He was too strong for her and he could just heal himself anytime she hurt him.

She didn’t have the stamina to keep fighting for much longer. Her powers had been weakened.

Tsubaki saw Black Star waiting a few metres from the ring of fire. He patiently stood there, watching for her signal.

Tsubaki nodded and Black Star moved, circling around to where Masamune stood.

She needed to divert her brother’s attention. It wouldn’t be too hard to keep his focus now that the fire magic had trapped him in a frenzied state.

“Why are you doing this!?” Tsubaki yelled and moved toward Masamune once more, “Just what have you to gain?!”

“I will have IMMORTALITY!” He yelled back over the roar of the fire swirling around them.

Just a little bit more and Black Star would have him.

“But at what cost?” Tsubaki asked, stepping closer to her brother.

Masamune began to cast a spell but before he could utter more than a few words, Black Star had come behind him and clamped the cuffs to his wrists.

The ring of fire died. Masamune’s power had been cut off completely by the cuffs. Masamune tried to turn to attack Black Star but the Witcher kicked the back of Masamune’s legs, bringing her brother to his knees.

Masamune hit the ground hard. 

Tsubaki saw the realisation in his eyes. He was going to die today.

“Please, sister! Don’t kill me, join me!” Masamune pleaded, looking into Tsubaki’s eyes the way he did as a child when he wanted her to help him.

She was torn. He was her twin, her other half. And here he was begging for his life, asking her to join him.

She knew she couldn’t change him. He was beyond saving.

Tsubaki swung her knife.

Masamune’s body slumped forward, blood pouring from the gash from his neck.

Tsubaki dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face. She cradled her twin brother in her arms, holding him as he died.

Tsubaki lay her brother’s body on the earth and curled into a ball, sobbing. She felt strong arms holding her and looked up to see Black Star.

In his arms she wailed until she went numb.

In the field where they first found they had magic, Tsubaki buried her twin right where they were found playing that fateful day.

And just before they left to make camp, Tsubaki tucked a dagger inlaid with emerald and gold into her pack, reuniting the twins once more.


	7. Temple of Melitele

Maka watched Black Star and Tsubaki disappear into the portal’s swirling black void. She watched in silence as it collapsed, the magic crackling and dying with a small pop.

And just like that Maka was left with an unknown man who she’d tried to kill earlier that morning. The whole situation was absurd really, Maka was supposed to be travelling with her papa. She was supposed to be seeing the world, visiting different cities and just experiencing new things outside of Brokilon.

Instead she was travelling with strangers heading to a seer’s temple because she’s being tracked down by the Wild Hunt to be bred or worse for her bloodline. AND they got seperated after Marie accidentally dumped them in the middle of Leshen territory because one of her party members has a psycho brother who wants to kill her and present Maka to his leader like a piece of meat.

So here she was, alone with Soul, the white-haired witcher.

Said white-haired witcher cleared his throat.

Maka turned back to him.

Soul gave her a look and jabbed a thumb toward the city walls, “Shall we go?”

“Is the temple that way? Through the city?” Maka asked.

“From here it is,” Soul replied

Maka perked up, her excitement evident on her face. She had never seen a city like this before. She had never been permitted to leave Cintra’s castle save for when she farewelled her mother’s ship and the trip to the docks had been in a dark carriage. And well, she had never been allowed to leave the forest.

This was all new to her, she was so excited she forgot her concerns about her travelling companion. Soul started walking, Maka followed, her excitement almost made her overtake Soul.

They approached the city gates and Maka had a rude awakening.

The townspeople were all dicks.

The guardsmen didn’t even want to let them in. It took Soul several minutes of arguing and a few silvers to just get into the city.

Once they were inside, Maka felt both overwhelmed and underwhelmed. It was so busy and noisy.

Sure the sloping streets were cobbled and the houses rose up around her like trees but the streets were covered in excrement. Drunkards were puking their guts out in alleys. Sickly women in torn and tattered dresses (whores, Soul called them) heckled them on almost every corner.

Everyone was noisy and rude.

People who walked passed sneered, spat at their feet, or refused to stand near them almost as if they had the plague.

None of the inns would allow Soul to rent a room and the ones that offered the stables asked insane prices. Soul didn’t have enough coin for the two of them and Maka… She had nothing.

Even so, Soul refused to separate. Maka was glad. She understood his chivalry, she saw the way the inkeeps looked at her, licking their lips.

They were better off staying together.

Still… Every time Soul was rejected, he remained impassive. Even when he had been spat on.

Part of Maka knew it was because he was a Witcher. She had heard papa’s stories of the revolt, where they stormed the Witcher schools and slaughtered as many as they could. 

A bigger part of her glowed with rage at his mistreatment. Even if he was a Witcher he should be respected, considering he did their dirty work and killed the monsters they couldn’t. Maka clenched her fists and bit her tongue.

Soul had told her they couldn’t get arrested. He didn’t have enough to pay for their release and things would not be good for her if she were locked in a cell overnight.

So they kept on trying until they reached the other side of the city. Soul sighed and hitched his pack higher on his shoulder. It was heavier, filled with provisions he managed to barter for with the last of his coin.

“Looks like we’ll be camping,” he said as they left the city into the woods. “Temple’s on the other side of these woods.”

Maka just nodded. She had been living in the forest for most of her life. She had been sleeping under the stars for most of her childhood.

Besides, there was no way in hell she’d want to sleep in some barn alone trying to keep prying hands and pricks away from her.

They set up camp by the edge of the woods. Soul disappeared as the sun was setting and reappeared sometime later with wood and news that there was no sign of monsters nearby.

Soul and Maka sat around the fire in silence. Maka chewed thoughtfully, thinking about this weird-ass situation.

“What do you think Azusa has to tell me?” Maka asked, breaking the silence.

Soul looked up from the stick he had been whittling into a spike and raised his eyebrows.

“Your prophecy, prolly,” he replied.

“But I already know it. Why does she have to speak with me?” Maka crossed her arms.

“Dunno. Maybe something changed?” Soul shrugged and leaned further against a fallen log.

Maka leaned forward, frowning. Did he hear what he was saying?

“Prophecies can’t change,” she said, “can they?”

Soul shrugged and tossed his stick into the flames. “Weirder shit has happened.”

“Yeah but…” Maka trailed off and sighed. He was no help.

She got up and relieved herself in the woods. She was far enough that Soul couldn’t hear nor see her but she was still able to see the campfire. Maka hitched up her trousers and re-tied them. She absently made her way to the camp, the thoughts swirling in her head were overwhelming her.

When she arrived back, Soul had pulled out his bedroll. Maka walked to the other side of the fire and pulled out her own bedroll. She didn’t fully trust him yet and although she knew it wouldn't do much if he tried, it gave her a little peace of mind.

Maka sat down and Soul looked up at her.

“Do we need to set up a watch schedule?” Maka asked.

“Would you feel better if we did?” Soul asked, scratching his chin idly.

“Yes,” Maka said with a firm voice.

“Fine. I’ll take first shift.” He said and propped himself up.

Maka was exhausted. She discreetly slipped a small blade under her blankets. Maka then lay down and rolled onto her side, with her back to the fire. She focused on the sounds around her - of the trees rustling in the wind, the scampering of the game, of the howls and hoots of distant predators. It was comforting, reminding Maka of Brokilon.

Maka drifted off to sleep. It felt as if only a few minutes had passed before she was being shaken awake.

Maka grumbled, sleepily opening her eyes and saw Soul standing above her.

“Your watch,” he mumbled and trudged back to his bedroll.

Maka got up and ate a small slice of bread. She sat down on a fallen log and kept watch as Soul drifted off to sleep.

Maka could hear his quiet snores, barely audible over the noise of crickets and other woodland creatures roaming around.

Maka sat there and kept watch, thinking deeply about her current situation. She hadn’t meant to sleep so deeply. She knew Soul hadn’t tried anything.

From all her time spent with him, he seemed to be an honourable man and could have had his way with her the minute Black Star and Tsubaki disappeared through that portal.

Maka rubbed her neck tenderly, bruises were already beginning to bloom into a deep purple colour. Soul clearly had no issue in overpowering her if he had wanted to.

But he hadn’t.

He had simply been leading them to Azusa’s temple as he said he would and nothing else.

A snarl jolted Maka from her thoughts.

Maka looked up at Soul’s side of the campfire. The sound had come close around him.

Soul twitched and thrashed violently. A snarl erupted from his mouth. It sounded inhuman and it scared Maka.

He snarled and growled, his body jerking and tossing.

Maybe it was a Witcher thing. Maka calmed herself and tuned out the strange noises Soul was making.

That was when he began spouting gibberish. First it was just nonsense, but then Maka began recognise words and phrases. He was speaking fucking Elvish.

Maka stood up and moved closer, trying to decipher what he was saying. She remained just far enough to avoid his thrashing.

“The end is coming… The end… is… coming.” He chanted, “The fake will take her place and tear the world apart. The fake will… The… Fake… Will…”

Maka pulled away, that sounded pretty fucking prophetic, as if he were in a trance or some shit, like one of the priestesses from Azusa’s temple.

She had to wake him up. To make him stop talking. Maka moved back toward Soul and slapped his cheek. Hard.

Soul jolted upright, forcing Maka to stumble backwards to avoid him slamming into her. He was breathing heavily and looking around with wild eyes. His gaze landed on Maka as she stood and dusted herself off.

Maka walked back to the log and added a log to the fire, she prodded at the embers as Soul calmed down.

Finally he relaxed his posture.

All Maka said was, “I get nightmares too.” She shrugged. At least he had stopped sprouting crazy elven bullshit.

Soul looked away, hiding his dumbfounded expression. He had been told that when he has these nightmare episodes he can be violent. Many people had been frightened away.

But this girl… She had just shrugged it off, saying she had nightmares too?

Just who the hell was Maka.

Maka cleared her throat and Soul shifted into a more comfortable position, drifting off to sleep once more.

Maka poked around at the embers, ruminating on what the fuck just happened and the shit Soul had said in his trancelike state.

He was speaking Elvish. Were Witchers taught that?

Maka sat and kept watch, thinking about all the crazy shit going on. And then, finally, morning arrived.

\--

Maka nudged Soul awake with her foot, warily keeping her distance in case he had some sort of weird reaction like he had during the night. Soul groaned. Maka ignored him and shoved breakfast into his hands before walking off to pack her things. Not that she had much to begin with that would need packing.

Soul sat up and ate. He was waiting for her to mention what had happened last night but she said nothing.

They gathered their supplies in silence and Soul kicked dirt onto the smouldering campfire. He felt on edge, anticipating the dreaded ‘what the fuck’ question that always came when he had nightmares around other company.

“Where to now?” Maka asked, interrupting his the loop of scenarios and fake conversations running through his mind.

She hadn’t mentioned his nightmare at all and didn’t look like she would. Soul was both impressed and baffled. First this girl shrugs in the face of fear and then moves on as if nothing had happened.

He was beginning to really like her.

Soul turned to face her and answered, “Through the woods, the temple should be on the other side,” Soul said and hitched his pack onto his shoulders, “won’t be long now.”

They walked into the woods. Maka followed a few paces behind Soul. They trekked up a sloping path until they came out onto a wide dirt road surrounded by poplars. From there, they continued to walk in silence, their boots crunching in the dirt until they arrived at white stone gates.

They stood at the gates and went to call to the guards. They found a young blond girl standing there. She pulled the gates open and spoke.

“This way,” she said, leading them down a long cobbled drive. Maka could see the temple a small distance from them, behind it was a massive rock wall as if the place had been built against a mountain wall. All of the buildings were well-maintained and surrounded by elaborate gardens. The grounds were well tended with clean garden beds and well-maintained structures. The whole temple was clean and it was a breath of fresh air after the polluted stinking city of Ellander. There were apprentices dressed in shifts attending to their chores and reading books, as well as a few guards here and there.

Maka supposed with such a high concentration of young girls and their talents, Azusa would have been stupid not to hire people to keep unwanted visitors out.

Maka, Soul, and the blond girl walked down the cobbled drive in silence. It didn’t bother Maka much, she was too busy looking around. They reached the temple.

The temple was ornate to say the least. The building had several levels with a high towering roof in the centre, jutting out toward the sky and filled with windows. There were well-tended flowers on either side of the wide wooden doorway.

They walked into the vestibule. Anya lead them through to a large, almost circular foyer. The floor was paved with flagstone and at the centre gave way to a small recessed garden. At the centre was a statue of Melitele, all three of her forms facing outwards in a triangle.

The girl directed them to a wooden bench against one of the walls next to the wall was a long hallway leading out to another ornate wooden door. Maka guessed that was where Azusa was.

Soul and Maka sat on the bench as directed.

The girl bowed, “she is with Miss Tsubaki.”

Maka perked up. She was about to open her mouth to ask the girl when Black Star and Tsubaki arrived when they heard a shout.

Turning, Maka saw Black Star appear from one of the doors lining the hallway. He was waving and jeering at them. The girl scowled at him and Soul stood up to greet him, giving Black Star a one-armed hug. Black Star walked up to Maka and clapped her on the shoulder.

Maka scowled at him. Half-heartedly.

“You made it, shorty,” Black Star chuckled.

Maka clenched her fist. She was close to sucker punching him. Just who the hell was he calling shorty? He was only a few centimetres taller than she was.

Soul stepped in.

“You dealt with the brother I take it?” Soul asked.

Black Star’s grin fell a little and his eyes hardened, “yeah”, he said.

Soul could see Black Star’s concern for Tsubaki written plain on his face. Witchers typically lost their ability to feel and express strong emotion but for some reason Black Star was different. He wore his heart on his sleeve and barely hid his emotions. Tsubaki must have had a tough battle if he was this concerned and Tsubaki must have been taking it quite hard.

Soul was still glad that it was Tsubaki who walked away from the fight.

“Thank god”, Maka sighed from behind Soul and interrupted his thoughts, “I was starting to like her.”

This got a genuine smile from both Witchers. Neither of them had known Maka long but they understood she was hard to impress. She had grown up as a dryad after all, and they don’t take too kindly to humans.

The girl cleared her throat. The three of them turned around as the door to Azusa’s chamber opened and Tsubaki walked out, trailed by an older woman.

Tsubaki looked exhausted. Maka could see the faint traces of bruising and cuts, they looked blurry as if a poorly-executed glamour was cast on the wounds to hide them.

Behind her was Azusa.

She was a seer and head of the temple. Azusa was a formidable woman with her black hair cut short and severe, stopping just above her shoulders in a bob. Her robes were clean and lacked decoration, she wore no jewellery. Her posture was rigid, her back was so straight it made Maka subconsciously straighten her own.

Azusa had a stern demeanor. She had heard many tales of Azusa from Blaire and Marie but seeing her in person was a whole other experience. She could feel the high priestess scrutinising her. Maka shrunk under her gaze.

Azusa finished sizing Maka up. Maka looked over to see Black Star and Tsubaki talking quietly and Soul watching Maka intently. When she caught him watching he looked away, almost embarrassed.

Azusa gestured to Maka, “Come. We must speak, child,” she said and lead Maka toward her chambers.

Maka looked back at the rest of her party nervously. She turned to continue walking when Azusa stopped and turned.

“You too, Soul”, she said.

Soul tried to hide the confusion on his face and followed Azusa and Maka into the chamber.

The chamber turned out to be a grotto. It had been cut from stone with a roof of clear quartz and other crystals.

It was stunning.

They were surrounded by all sorts of plants, some of which Maka recognised to only grow in Brokilon. There were so many rare herbs and flowers surrounding them, growing from garden beds made of bedrock, in troughs, in flowerpots and chests, climbing up trellises and stakes.

Maka’s mouth hung open in wonder.

Azusa walked to the centre of the room, the floor was recessed and paved with flagstone. There were small pots of incense surrounding a rug woven with fine fabrics.

“Sit. We have much to discuss.” Azusa said.

Soul and Maka perched on the edge of the recess. Azusa sat on the rug cross-legged.

She breathed deeply for a few moments before speaking, “Something has happened and both of your prophecies have intertwined.”

Soul interrupted her, “what do you mean intertwined? I thought my prophecy could not change.”

Maka turned to Soul, “You have a prophecy?” She asked.

Soul rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah… Doesn’t everyone?”

It seemed to be a sore spot for him but Maka had to know what his fate was and just how it had changed after tangling up with her own.

“Tell me. Please.” She asked quietly.

Soul turned to face her and cleared his throat. Azusa sat quietly. She allowed Soul to tell the girl his own twisted fate, caused by her very bloodline.

Soul spoke of his time as a Witcher, telling Maka he was surrendered by a stingy lord for payment to a Witcher simply referred to as ‘Lord Death’.

He had come from a musical family, his elder brother played the most beautiful songs on his fiddle but Soul… Soul had no talent. He could not keep focus for longer than a few minutes and often escaped from his tutors. He could play a few melodies of his own creation. They were dark and chaotic.

His father would not have it.

No matter how he was punished by his father, Soul refused to learn to play what his father demanded until Soul stopped music altogether.

One day, they had an issue with noonwraiths and his father called for a Witcher.

The man that showed up was formidable, wearing a skull mask made from bone to conceal his face. The Witcher slew the noonwraith easily and came for payment. Soul was standing by his brother’s side when his father had pawned him off instead of paying with gold.

He was only a child. His own father sold him off to save a few silvers.

For the first week he cried and endured the training poorly. They fed him strange vegetables and concoctions that made him ill for days. But day after day he could feel himself grow stronger, his reflexes improving.

He was no longer being hit by the swinging contraptions they trained him on. He could fight with his eyes closed. He was becoming a Witcher.

He made friends with the other boys in his group. They talked of their past lives and studied together, learning about the monsters that plagued their lands.

Then came the trials.

He and the other boys were strapped to a table they called the Sad Albert.

Soul felt a needle piece his skin and heard the machine behind him begin pumping the Grasses into his veins. He heard Medusa chanting.

And then all he felt was agony.

Soul’s body convulsed and writhed as the concoction worked its way through his system. He and the others drifted in and out of seizures for three days.

Only Soul survived this stage.

On the third day he went mad. Screaming and frothing at the mouth, he tried to attack anyone who came near. He thrashed and shrieked for a day and a half until he fell into a catatonic state. His eyes glazed over and his hands twitched and moved on their own accord, clenching and rising as if he were grasping at something above him.

By the fifth day he developed a fever and bruises bloomed across his skin as if he were being beaten by an invisible object. His breathing grew hoarse and loud.

Medusa administered more of her elixir and his seizures returned. Blood poured from his nose, first in a vibrant red. Eventually the blood darkened until it became almost a thick viscous black. He developed a hacking cough which worsened into vomiting. Black bile poured from his mouth, the acid burning his throat.

Soul grew weak. His symptoms remained for two more days. His temperature rose to dangerous levels but his pulse remained strong, albeit a little slow. He no longer seized, nor did he scream.

Soul lay there inert, strapped to the table, unable to be woken.

Finally, he awoke and opened his eyes.

They were monstrous, pupils slit like a viper’s in a dark bloody red.

When he awoke, Soul found the room empty of his friends. The older Witchers surrounded him instantly. He was still weak. They helped him to the sleeping quarters. All of the beds were empty save his.

Three days later they told him. He was the sole survivor of his trial.

He was alone.

Soul was overcome with rage and sadness. His vision tunneled and turned red.

When Soul woke up they told him he had lost control. Medusa disappeared soon after, having said something about a failure.

They told him power had exploded from his body, manifesting into an ominous black fog before dissipating. Soul in his mad state then seized and black blood oozed from his nose before he collapsed.

Much later they discovered a journal Medusa had left behind. She had been trying to create a fake elder blood and had failed. Soul was left broken, prone to outbursts of power.

“I began having nightmares and losing control in random situations, it was if whatever Medusa had put in me was trying to take over.” Soul shuddered.

Azusa cut in, “It was prophesied that the one with the false bloodline was to be chased by the Wild Hunt to the ends of time… And were he to escape he would have a bloody and gruesome ending.” Her voice was grave.

“Basically, I’m fucked.”


	8. Tangled Fates

Maka looked at Soul sadly. He was fated to be chased by the Wild Hunt. And they had captured him once already.

Just how much pain had this man been through?

But no matter how sympathetic she felt toward him she couldn’t bring herself to tell him her own prophecy.

Turns out she didn’t have to.

Azusa interrupted the heavy silence that had fallen between them. “You have heard the Elder Blood prophecy no?”

Soul looked at Azusa and shook his head. Maka felt a piercing heat in her chest that burned its way to her stomach and made her heart beat faster. 

Maka listened as Azusa explained Maka’s own terrible fate with a sinking heart. She hung her head low, refusing to make eye contact as the high priestess explained that if the Hunt captured her she would be bred and tortured until the bloodline took control and the magic tore apart the veils between worlds.

Her fists clenched, her fingernails cutting into her palms as Azusa continued to speak.

“The Wild Hunt, as you know, is an army travelling between worlds and conquering them as they pass. They have the same gift lying dormant in Maka but their powers to traverse between worlds is much weaker than that of the Elder Blood. They want to use Maka and force her to create a second Conjunction of the Spheres.”

Soul cursed quietly under his breath.

“Yes, should Maka ever fall into their hands -”

“I would have to die.” Maka cut Azusa off and glared at the high priestess, “So how have things changed? Why have our fates tangled and what are they now?”

“Melitele has shown me. A fake will take your place and the Blacksmoke shall consume everything in this world. It will devour the veil to this world and burn everything it touches… It cannot be stopped unless the Hunt is stopped or the fake dies…”

Azusa trailed off.

Oh.

Maka looked at Soul, guilt bubbled in her chest. He was fucked.

Because he met her, he was now doomed to take her place. He was stuck with her, tangled in her mess because of her bloodline, because of meeting her. Until Asura was killed their fates were stuck together like a frankenstein’s monster of misfortune and really bad fucking luck.

Soul remained impassive, Maka couldn’t read his emotions at all.

They sat there in silence.

Azusa stood and extinguished the thuribles filled with incense. When she had completed her task, she cleared her throat.

“If you can defeat Asura I am sure Melitele will tell me a more fortunate fate for the both of you.”

“Key word being if.” Maka replied darkly.

“Indeed,” Azusa said, ignoring Maka’s attitude, “There may be some books in the temple library that may help. Perhaps you should go look.”

Dismissed, Maka got up. Beside her Soul stood as well. They walked out to the lobby to where Black Star and Tsubaki were waiting. 

Black Star’s grin dropped the minute he saw Soul’s expression.

“Judging from your faces, it didn’t go well, did it?” Black Star asked.

Maka ignored him and pushed past Soul. She stalked off toward the temple’s exits and out toward the gardens.

Soul shook his head.

Tsubaki watched Maka with concern. Just what had Azusa told them? From what Marie had told her, Maka already knew her original prophecy and had known since she was a child.

Tsubaki’s heart ached for the girl. She had lost her kingdom and had been confined to the forests of Brokilon. Her father, like all men, was forbidden from staying with her. She was alone, being trained and housed by strangers. Maka was just a child when she had been told her tragic fate, she must have felt an incredible weight on her shoulders.

Tsubaki stood and asked Soul, “What happened?”

And Soul told them. Tsubaki listened, her heart sinking as Soul spoke. She understood Maka’s anger. Even more responsibility had been piled onto her shoulders and she was now bonded to an unfamiliar man. To Soul.

Asura had to die, even more so now. Tsubaki had a bad feeling Arachne and her sister Medusa were involved and Azusa had only confirmed her suspicions. After all how would the Wild Hunt know of Maka’s heritage.

Arachne invaded Cintra without a king. She betrayed the conclave, razing it to the ground and slaughtering those trapped inside.

Now the kings have turned against sorceresses, turned against the non-human folk. The people were angry and they were hunting her and her sisters, hunting the non-humans.

The world was falling to madness.

Going off what Soul had told her, and Tsubaki’s own discussion with Azusa, the sooner they dealt with Asura the better.

“We have a lead from the Thompsons about Arachne. Black Star and I will be leaving in the afternoon if Maka wanted to say goodbye.” Tsubaki said.

“I can check.” Soul replied, “If I miss you, I wish you guys a safe travel. Hopefully you can find something to help.”

“Thank you.” Tsubaki said quietly and headed out toward the guest house. Black Star gave Soul a one-armed hug and smacked him on the back painfully.

“Take care of yourself, and Tsu too.” Soul said as they parted. Black Star nodded and headed after Tsubaki.

Soul went in search of Maka. He found her on a bench by one of the fountains in the temple gardens. She was lying across the bench with one leg propped up and the other dangling off the side. She was glaring at the mountain wall like it had personally insulted her.

Soul hesitated, he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that glare, especially since she was now stuck with him and his crappy fate. He stood there for a few moments before plucking the courage to interrupt whatever thought process she had.

“You okay?” He asked.  
Maka turned her head to look at him, shielding her eyes.

“...Kinda”

“Tsu and Star have a lead and are heading out in a few hours… If you wanted to say goodbye or something.” Soul said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh.” Maka said, her voice flat, “Okay.”

Soul panicked inside, she was being left alone with him again. He was a complete stranger to her, heck Soul wouldn’t want to be in her position either.

“In the meantime I think we should look in the library, if you’re up for it?”

“Sure. Where is it?” Maka asked and sat up.

“In the temple, they’re the double doors facing the Crone of Melitele.” Soul said.

Maka got up off the bench. “Lead the way,” she said.

Soul was right, it was better they got started on researching the Wild Hunt. The more they knew about them the better their already scarce odds would be.

They walked to the temple in a comfortable silence. Maka appreciated Soul not being the type to fill a silence with awkward small-talk. Maka was still trying to process the new prophecy and the silence gave her a chance to think about it more.

As Maka contemplated they reached the oak double doors that lead to the temple’s library. Soul pushed open one of the doors and Maka nearly died.

It was heaven!

There were so many books! The room was enormous. Books lined the walls and filled bookshelves arranged in rows around the room. There were precarious stacks sitting next to plush armchairs and on long oak tables. Maka stood at the entrance, mouth hanging open in wonder.

This was a lot better than her tiny stack her papa had bought her from his travels. She could live here happily, reading the days away.

Soul coughed and caught Maka’s gaze. Her mouth snapped shut and she walked beside him, her cheeks glowing in embarrassment.

“I’ll take the left and you can take the right? Start with the books on the walls, they’re older.” He said. Maka nodded and moved to the right, skimming through titles for the right book.

They each held a sizable stack and sat on armchairs in the centre of the room. They read in a companionable silence, which was often permeated by a grunt or exclamation.

Time flew as they went through the pile of books they collected, searching for any mention of the Wild Hunt. There were brief mentions in the majority of books Maka had found but none of them had any tangible information they didn’t already know. Maka’s concentration was interrupted when Soul got up and stretched.

He turned to Maka, “Tsu and Star are gonna leave any minute now. Wanna come say goodbye?”

Maka debated whether or not she should go, but she was close to a breakthrough. She wanted to keep reading and told Soul as much.

“I’m gonna stay and keep searching. Tell them I wish them safe travels.” Maka said and returned to the book she was reading.

“Okay, I’ll come and get you for food. I’ve had enough books for today.” Soul said and left.

Maka continued to read, learning more about the Hunt and the elven kingdom they were borne. According to her book the elven people people who called themselves the Aen Elle split off and moved to a new world during the conjunction of the spheres. There they created a kingdom but desired more and put together an army that travelled between worlds using the Unicorn’s gate before the gate was blocked as the Unicorns and the Aen Elle were at war. They were then reliant on mages who could only navigate between a few worlds and have been in search for a stronger power to conquer and enslave even more worlds beyond their reach.

Maka closed the book just as Soul opened the door to the library and called out to her. Dinner was ready.

\--

Maka stood outside of Azusa’s office. She held a hand up to knock when the door opened.

“Come in, Maka.” She said, moving to sit on a chair, “What is it you want to tell me?”

“I’ve been having nightmares,” Maka said.

“Tell me,” Azusa said, leaning forward slightly.

And so Maka told her, of the boy, and the woman with the shadow of a serpent experimenting on him, torturing him. She told Azusa of the black mist that devours the boy. She told her about it devouring the world and watching everything burn.

Maka watched as Azusa’s expression grew more concerned as Maka talked. And when Maka had finished telling her Azusa frowned and tapped her nails on her desk.

“Let me confer with Melitele, my child. Whatever you have been seeing should not be ignored, especially not considering your lineage and your powers.” Azusa said, “Go sleep. I will talk when Melitele provides me with guidance on the meaning of this all.”

With that Maka was dismissed. She trudged back to her room in the guest quarters and readied herself for bed. Whatever she had been dreaming about clearly had more to it and whatever it was did not sound good.

She needed more training. Something was coming and she needed to be prepared.


	9. The Way of a Witcher

The next morning Maka couldn’t find Soul. She asked one of the passing apprentices who directed her to a training yard behind the stables.

There Soul was, practicing his Katas. He was wearing a loose undershirt and his leather trousers with his shaggy hair held back by a leather headband.

It was a stark contrast to how Maka had known him to dress. Normally he wore thick leather armor adorned with a lightweight chainmail on his shoulders, belted across his chest. His upper arms and waist had the same chainmail panels. Normally his bare hands were gloved with dragon-skin hide and his two swords sheathed to his back were leaning against a fence.

Maka stood there and watched him as he moved through the different Katas, remembering how he fought her and the Leshen.

He was fast. His reflexes, his senses were incredible. And even through Maka had learned to fight from the best Dryads, including Blaire herself, she feared it would not be enough.

She needed to be stronger. She was going to be.

Maka stepped up to the fence. Even in his focused state, Soul heard her approach and turned around.

“Teach me.” She said. “Teach me how to fight like a Witcher.”

Soul spluttered.

“What?”

Maka crossed her arms. “I said teach me. I wanna fight like you do.”

“You already fight well. I’ve seen you meet avoid Star’s attacks and he fights dirty.” Soul responded wiping sweat off his brow.

“I fight like a Dryad. I want to learn how to fight like a Witcher.”

Soul sighed. Maka saw his shoulders droop and she took this as a sign that he didn’t want to teach her. Papa’s shoulders drooped every time she asked to join him on his travels.

Maka fidgetted, “...unless you don’t want to? If you think it’s impossible to train me…” Maka turned away. She didn’t want to show Soul her disappointment or her weakness.

She knew it might be possible he’d say no. Soul and the other Witchers had years of training and underwent severe mutations to get them ready as a Witcher. He looked her age but Maka had no idea just how old he truly was - the Witchers, like sorceresses, aged a lot slower than humans. Elder Blood or not, Maka was still a human.

Maka began to walk away in defeat.

Soul turned around and looked at Maka walking away with stooped shoulders. He felt a pang of guilt for rejecting her. She was already a strong fighter and he was definitely not cut out for teaching.

Hell, he was damaged goods with the failed Elder blood. Here before him was a girl with the true bloodline, a fighter who was strong enough to try and fight her fate, standing before him and asking for his guidance.

Soul was just a fake with a power he could barely control. And here was this girl, who had dealt with so much in her life, who was learning to control her magic, and master the volatile nature of her bloodline. She had an iron will, he hadn’t known her long but he could see her determination. She was an incredible fighter already and here she was, insecure in her abilities.

Soul scrubbed the back of his hair. “Fine, I’ll train you,” he said, “Just don’t expect to master it immediately or become as powerful as a fully-fledged Witcher.”

Maka turned around and marched back toward him. She flung her hand out.

“Deal! When do we start?” she said as he shook his hand in hers, “How do we start?”

Maka became a jumble of questions and nervous excitement. He had only ever seen her this open with her emotions when she was visiting Ellander.

“Woah!” Soul held up his hands, “Calm down down. We will do the basics here. Now, follow what I do.”

Soul taught Maka for most of the morning. By the time they finished Maka was exhausted and aching. The spent the afternoon searching for information in the library, sharing little tidbits they had found with each other.

They followed this routine for two weeks. Maka trained with Soul in the basics every morning. They ate lunch and chatted and then studied in the library until supper. Maka was exhausted physically and mentally but she was starting to see progress.  
One morning their training session was interrupted by knights from Ellander.

There were three of them. Two of them stood behind what Maka believed to be their leader with their hands resting on their hilts. The leader just looked like an asshole.

“You need to leave, freak,” he spat at Soul’s feet. 

Maka wanted to take this motherfucker out so badly but Soul put himself in front of her, preventing her from striking the leader.

Azusa hurried out in her robes to intercept the guards, trying to placate them. Soul placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“I will leave, it’s okay,” he said.

“Not a fuckin’ chance!” Maka growled and tried to push past Soul to have a go at this buffon and his cronies.

Soul turned around, “Maka, no. It’s fine. I’ll leave.” He said.

Maka crossed her arms in anger, “You’re just going to let them throw you out like that? Run like a fucking coward?”

Was he serious right now? Maka couldn’t believe a Witcher, much stronger than these inbred knights, would turn tail at three men. 

“It’s not worth it. Maka, come with me, you can talk to Lord Death and check the catacombs of Kaer Morhen for information on the hunt.”

Maka paused and looked at him, confused. His invitation had completely derailed the verbal bashing she was giving him in her head. It took her a minute to process what he had offered her.

He was asking her to come with him, giving her access to information at his school. Giving her a chance to train with him more.

How could Maka refuse?

Maka schooled her reaction and simply replied, “I’ll go get my things. Meet you by the gate.”

Maka began walking back to the guest house, restraining her urge to give the pompous knights the finger… or beat the living shit out of them.

Instead she said, “You’re more knightmares that knights”, and spat at their feet before continuing to the guest house.

Soul and the knights gawked at Maka. Azusa tried to hide her smile.

Maka was ballsy as fuck and that pun! Soul may have fallen in love with her a little.

The lead knight(mare) scraped his shoe in the grass, looking at it in disgust while his cronies continued to stare at Maka.

Azusa turned to the knights and cleared her throat, “You have fulfilled your purpose. Now leave.”

The lead knight glared at Soul.

“Just get the fuck out of here,” the leader said and stormed off.

Soul walked back to his room, still dazed by the situation and packed his things. He thanked Azusa for her hospitality and headed toward the gates. Maka was leaning against a wall with her arms crossed.

“Where’s your school?” Maka asked, pushing herself off the wall and walking towards him.

Soul sighed, “Kwaeden. It’s about a two week ride from here.”

“So where are the horses?” Maka asked. She looked around searching for their mounts.

“That’s the thing. We’ll have to detour. Need to take a few contracts to get the horses.”

“Oh,” Maka said, “how long do you think it will take?”

Maka felt a pressing urge to find the information as fast as she could. It felt like the Hunt was snapping at her heels and she was losing all this time just from travel. As soon as she saw Tsubaki again she needed to find a way to master portals. 

Time was running out.

“Not sure, honestly,” Soul said.

He could understand Maka’s sense of urgency. He knew what it felt like to be hunted down by the Wild Hunt.

It was a ticking clock, counting down his days of freedom. Except instead of a linear countdown, the numbers would constantly change. Every moment could have been his last, every storm and gust of wind held an impending sense of doom. Held a sense of terror.

It almost drove Soul crazy.

So much so that when they did finally come for him there was a sense of relief. That was until they began the torture.

Then he’d rather have gone crazy.

Soul looked at Maka, he could see her anxiety as she picked at her nails. He tried to make the fact that he was broke into a positive thing.

“We will walk to a town in the direction we need to go in, obviously.” He said, “And I can train you in more advanced skills.”

Maka perked up slightly, “Really?” She asked.

“Really,” Soul said, smiling softly.

They began walking to the next town, it was a day’s journey and they needed to get moving.

\--

The town was more of a fenced in community. They only had one ‘pub’ which was also the biggest and most central building. The notice board called for the help of a Witcher. It seemed the town was having a noonwraith problem.

Soul had explained a little about the most common monsters that he would find in the area. He also handed her a bulging journal filled with pages of cramped handwriting and illustrations. He called it his bestiary, saying the word with a wry smile. Maka flicked through quickly.

They walked into the pub to speak to the alderman about taking the job and negotiating their pay. Soul told Maka that it was important to do this to avoid getting gypped. Maka nodded and listened as he briefly explained how these exchanges usually worked.

They sat down at a table and the barkeeper approached.

“Want a beer?” The barkeep asked.

Maka looked at Soul. She had never had a beer before.

Soul shook his head.

“Okay, so according to your book,” Maka said as the barkeep walked away, “A noonwraith is the ghost of a woman who died violently before her wedding day. They keep to rural areas around where their bodies lay and attack farmers and children, right?” Maka asked.

“Right. How would I stop a noonwraith?” Soul asked her, watching her face scrunch up slightly as she tried to recall what she had read.

“You need to treat your silver sword with spectre oil and try to destroy it when it is corporeal.” Maka answered.

“Right.” Soul said with a smile. He was impressed with just how well she remembered information.

“So what happens if they trap you in their dance?” Maka asked with a frown, “It says in your book that if you get caught noonwraiths will drain your life-force.”

“You don’t,” Soul said with finality.

Maka felt a cold trickle of fear run down her spine. Souls words reminded her that he was still mortal, still vulnerable. That even with genetic mutations, the monsters the Witchers hunted were still incredibly dangerous.

Someone like her wouldn’t stand a chance.

Maka and Soul sat at the table and discussed strategy until the Alderman finally walked in.

Soul looked up at the doorway and nodded as their eyes locked.

Maka saw the Alderman recoil slightly at the sight of Soul. She had forgotten how demonic he looked with his stark white hair and red eyes. 

The Alderman approached the table and took a seat. Soul wasted no time with small talk.

“So you have a noonwraith problem?” Soul asked.

The Alderman looked at Maka, “Who is this?” He asked, shifting his gaze back to Soul.

“My apprentice,” Soul said. “Now tell me what’s happening.”

Maka sat there in shock. Soul was succinct and commanding. It was a very different to how he acted around her, when he was alone with Maka he seemed a lot… nicer?  
Maka listened to Soul as he negotiated with the Alderman. He had managed get two horses as payment.

The noonwraith must have caused them a lot of trouble.

After negotiations Maka followed Soul around as he talked to the townspeople about what happened to the victims. Many of them described the bodies of farmers or children torn to pieces in one of the far fields to the west. Others who saw these attacks described a noonwraith perfectly.

A sun-scorched woman, wearing a torn up wedding dress. She was floating a few feet off the ground and shrieking, hunting relentlessly for her next victim.

After speaking to the people, and investigating the area Soul concluded that it was in fact a noonwraith.

“Why do you investigate so thoroughly when it was what they said it was?” Maka asked Soul.

“Sometimes urban legends confuse people. They may say it’s one thing and can be a completely different monster. Or someone playing pranks.” Soul said, “If you are misinformed you cannot prepare for what will come. That is how you die.”

“Oh,” Maka said.

They had spent most of the morning interviewing townsfolk and investigating the area. The sun was beating down on them as they waited in the field for the noonwraith to appear. Soul was standing directly above where they had found a scrap of lace that may have been from a torn veil at one point.

There was a rumor that one of the farmer’s daughters had been killed by her beau the night before their wedding as he had found a far more beautiful bride.

When they had heard that, Maka was disgusted. Men were such pigs.

Maka stood several meters away to prevent getting attacked by the noonwraith. She watched as Soul readied himself, treating his blade with spectre oil from his pack. Once he had finished with his silver sword, Soul cast a hand-sign at the ground that caused runed to glow around him for a brief moment.

He must have cast Yrden. He had told her that Yrden was important for trapping the noonwraith and ensuring it remains corporeal for the fight.

Maka heard an awful shriek and the noonwraith appeared.  
It was terrifying. Maka knew what it looked like from the sketch in Soul’s book but…Watching it materialise in front of her was different. It was real, and evil looking.

Maka couldn’t believe that a young woman became that. With weathered, dried leather skin, jaw hanging from the skull barely attached, a fat engorged tongue rolled out and trying to whip Soul.

And the stench. Maka wanted to vomit.

But she stood and watched as Soul dodged and rolled out of the way of the noonwraith. He hacked at her and cast Yrden to keep her corporeal as she danced around him.

Soul was doing well, he nearly had her head when a copy appeared behind him. And then another.

Then they began to dance. Soul was trapped.

Maka tried to run to him, horrified as all his strength left him and he dropped his silver sword.

Maka had to act.

\--

If Soul had enough energy he may have laughed at the irony. He fucked up. And now he was going to die.

He had told Maka never to get caught in a noonwraith dance. Yet here he was, being sapped of all strength and having his lifeforce drained away.

Soul felt a white-hot panic rise inside of him, not for his own death but for Maka’s. She had barely seen the world or experienced it and because of his fuck-up she would die. The noonwraith would come for her next. She was too close.

He should have left her at the pub.

Soul saw a flash of light to his right and heard a scream.

Then the dance stopped and the noonwraith and its clones collapsed into a pile of black ash.

Before him was Maka with his silver sword in hand.

Holy shit, he might just have fallen in love.

...And he might pass out.  
This was so unprofessional.

\--

Soul woke up in a bed. Not a bed roll like he’d been sleeping in but an actual bed.

It was an old and lumpy bed. But it was a bed.

Soul pushed himself upright. He was in a small sparse room. There was a rickety wooden desk and chair in the corner, an extinguished lantern sat atop the desk. By the door was a tall dresser whose wooden knobs had been worn into irregular shapes.

Soul searched for his pack, looking around the room until he saw it by his bed.

Someone opened the door and Soul’s hand flew to unsheathe his sword but nothing was beside him.

Maka walked in and saw his panicked look.

“Relax, it’s just me.” She said and walked over to set a tray of food down on the desk. “How are you feeling?”

“M’fine. Where are we?” Soul asked and looked at her. 

She had cleaned up a bit since the field.

“Same place. Got a room for you above the pub for you to recover,” she said.

She what now? Just where did that money come from?

Just how long had he been out for?

“What happened?” Soul asked.

“What do you mean? We killed the noonwraith and you passed out after getting caught in its dance.”

“I know that,” Soul said. 

How could he forget the fact that he fucked up big time and she saved his ass by decapitating the noonwraith in one clean swing. Like Maka was a badass and holy shit he liked her.

Damn it!

“No, I mean how long have I been out for? How did I get here?”

“Dragged you to the pub and threatened the barkeep til he helped me get you up here,” Maka said with a shrug. “You’ve only been out for a day.”

What?!

Soul looked at Maka. She was one scary human. Not only has she faced his nightmares but she also slaughtered a noonwraith with no training, dragged him out of the fields and through town, and then scared a man into helping her carry his heavy ass upstairs. That was not a short distance to drag a full grown Witcher and all his gear.

She was tiny. Goddammit, Maka was amazing.

Soul shook his head slightly in disbelief at his travelling companion.

“How did you pay for the room?”

“Lied and said there were two noonwraiths, demanded a room to stay in for extra payment.” Maka said with a proud look on her face.

Soul put his head in his hands and groaned.

“What’s happening?” Soul heard Maka say and scurry toward him, her hands hovering over him, “Are you okay?”

Soul looked up at Maka. She had broken a big rule for Witchers. You DO NOT lie about your accomplishments.

That is how you lose the people’s trust. That was how skirmishes were and are started.

It was a rule you didn’t break - not for glory or extra payment.

Soul looked up at Maka, “You fucked up, Maka.” Soul said.

He watched as Maka recoiled, moving away from him with a confused and angry expression.

“You broke our code.” Soul said, “You never lie about your kills for gain, or glory. Extra payment is included in that, Maka.”

A few minutes passed and an indignant look crossed her face. Soul sighed.

She fucked up?! She saved his fucking life after he did exactly what he told her not to do.

It’s not like he told her their code. She had just started the training. How the fuck was she supposed to know?

Besides, they had no money. What was she supposed to do? Leave him in the field where something else could come and attack? There was no way she could keep them alive from anything that came at them out there.

Maka was angry. She was angry at Soul but even more angry at herself.

She had let him down and he was now having to berate her for it. She needed to do better.

Maka felt a crushing disappointment with her anger and felt like crying. She refused to let Soul see this weak side of her, to think that she was too weak to train.

She needed to get out of there.

Soul saw Maka’s expression change. She went from terrifying to crushed in seconds as she realised her mistake.

He hadn’t taught her the code just yet, shit they had barely started training together when this all happened. He fucked up.

This was his fault.

Soul tried to cheer her up, he held his hands up in what he hoped looked like a gesture of peace and spoke.

“Although…” He said, “I am glad you didn’t leave me. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Maka said quietly and turned on her heel.

Then she rushed out of the room.

Soul got out of bed and retrieved his belongings. He was sheathing his sword when he noticed the tray of food on the desk. It had gone cold.

Soul left the room in search of Maka. She wasn’t in the pub or anywhere in the little town.

Shit... the field.

Soul rushed to the outskirts of town, toward the field the noonwraith had been.  
It was empty.

Soul felt a heavy sense of dread. What if Maka had been attacked by an animal? Or a monster?

What if she had been taken by the Wild Hunt?!

Oh god… He was spiralling.

Soul needed to calm down. He took a deep breath and searched the area for tracks.

Soul could rule out the Wild Hunt, there wasn’t any fresh horse tracks in the field, nor the heavy pointed boot-prints that could belong to the Aen Elle.

However he couldn’t find consistent tracks from Maka either. He cursed her Dryad upbringing as he remembered she would have been taught to walk silently, to conceal her own tracks and minimise signs of her presence. 

The only clues he could find lead into the nearby woods.

Soul was a fucking moron.

Of course that would be the first place she goes! Maka was a Dryad. She would have sought comfort in the trees, in nature.

Soul walked into the woods and searched for Maka. He had walked a decent way in when he found her up in the boughs of a tree.

She was sulking.

Soul looked up at her. She was slung over a few branches picking at the leaves surrounding her. When Soul approached she looked down briefly and turned her head away like a petulant child.

This would be fun.

“Maka, let’s go,” Soul said.

Maka looked down at him, “Where?” She asked.

“To Kaer Morhen, of course. Didn’t I say I’d take you to find more information, and to talk to Lord Death?”

“Didn’t think that was still on the table.” Maka said, “Broke your code, didn’t I?”

She was pouting.

“Maka, it’s fine.” Soul said and sighed, “You’re still in training, you didn’t know.”

“But - ”

Soul cut Maka off, “I won’t say anything if you don’t.”

Maka climbed down to a lower branch and leaned down toward him, she was draped over a branch like one of those children’s fairytale illustrations of fairies.

In the afternoon light she looked magical.

She was magical.

Soul stared at her, waiting.

Maka looked at Soul, trying to read his expression. She was scared that he no longer wanted to train a fuck-up like her. She was scared that Kaer Morhen - that this Lord Death - would turn her away.

But Soul.... He said it was okay.

“Will you still train me?” Maka asked with a small voice.

“Of course. If you still want me?” Soul said, “I promise I will do better.”

Maka could hear guilt in his voice.

“Of course I want you to train me.” Maka said, tilting her head and smiling softly.

She liked Soul and his gentle nature. It reminded her of being home in the forest with Blaire. It was nice.

He was nothing to the rumours she had heard of Witchers from her papa. He wasn’t cruel or emotionless as the stories said he might be.

Maka wanted to stay by his side and learn from him. Learn how he worked and how he fought.

Maka climbed down and pulled her boots off from around her neck, picking apart the knotted laces. Once she had undone the knot she sat down and began pulling them on.

She looked up at Soul, “Shall we go then?” she asked.

“We shall” Soul said and offered a hand to pull her up as she finished with the laces.

Maka accepted his hand and he pulled her up. Together they walked out of the woods and retrieved their horses from the stables.


	10. Meet the Family

They had made camp for the night. Maka was busy stirring a pot of stew she had pulled together after coming back from a hunt.

They had been riding for a week now, stopping every now and then for Soul to take a job. As they rode Soul told her more about the monsters and the best ways to combat them. Maka listened and answered his questions. She was learning.

When they stopped to make camp or to take a job Soul would train her to fight. They would spar and practice hand-to-hand combat.

He was a surprisingly good instructor.

Maka felt herself getting stronger every day. They had not spared today as she needed to hunt for meat. Their rations were running low and Maka was sick of eating jerky.

She stopped stirring and dipped her bowl in. She turned to Soul who was sharpening his blades by the fire.

“Food’s ready,” she said.

Soul looked up and smiled, “Thanks”, he said.

He stood up and filled his own bowl and sat down next to Maka. They ate in a companionable silence.

When finished, Maka set her bowl and spoon aside and turned to Soul who had finished his own meal.

“So tell me about this Lord Death of yours,” Maka said. She was curious as he had such a strange and morbid name. The way Soul said his name implied this Witcher was important to Soul.

“He’s the head of the Wolf School,” Soul said.

“But why the name Lord Death? Surely that’s not his real name?”

Soul smiled at her. She liked his smile.

“Nah, it’s not his real name. Everyone just calls him that.”

“Why?” Maka asked.

“No one remembers his real name,” Soul said.

“But it’s such a morbid name!” Maka said. Why would someone who wasn’t a bandit or a fucking moron choose such a name?

“It was a nickname because he’s the head of a Witcher school. Think someone said it and it stuck.”

“Oh,” Maka said. “It’s still a weird name.”

“He’s a weird guy,” Soul said, “He has a flair for the dramatic.”

“Sounds it,” Maka said and gathered their bowls and cutlery to wash in a nearby river.

\--

They stood at the ruined gates of Kaer Morhen.

Finally.

After several weeks of travel and training, Maka was exhausted and homesick.

She longed for Blaire’s teasing and Marie’s gentle guidance. She missed Tsugumi’s deft hands weaving Maka’s hair into intricate braids. She missed the familiar forests and safety of it all.

But here they were, at Soul’s Witcher school.

His home.

Maka was nervous. She was scared of how the would react to her, how they would treat her. She was meeting (probably) the oldest living Witcher, who had trained Soul and many others to fight and control terrifying creatures.

But there was no turning back. She was trapped in a prophecy that bound her and Soul to a tragic fate. She was so far from home that she didn’t even know where it was from here.

The only way was forward. She needed to stop this prophecy. She needed to destroy the Wild Hunt.

Not just for her sake. But for Soul’s too.

Soul looked at Maka, “Are you ready to meet the family?” he asked. His tone was light and sarcastic, but deep down he was terrified.

He really liked Maka and part of him (a very big part) wasn’t actually joking when he said that the Witchers who lived in this school were family.

He had grown up here, been taught here, made friendships here. He had found a family, a home here at Kaer Morhen.

He didn’t want Maka to hate them.

Moreso, he didn’t want her to judge him.

A small voice told him he was being silly. Maka had grown up in a similar situation, she had grown up in a community of people with no blood relation to her.

Maka’s voice brought him back to reality, “Let’s go,” she said.

Maka took the lead and walked through the gate.

Soul could see the tension in her shoulders. He could understand the tension.

Kaer Morhen was falling apart. After Medusa fled the castle the people revolted and stormed the place.

Good Witchers died and the damage was extensive. And expensive to fix.

Maka slowed down as they walked into a cobbled courtyard. There were more signs of damage here; ruined pillars and broken walls. Surrounding them were strange wooden contraptions and misshapen practice dummies.

They must have used this equipment for training. Maka looked at all the heavy wooden beams and boards. Some of it looked quite painful should they hit you when in motion.

Soul took the lead and walked straight to the heavy wooden doors, pushing them open into an expansive antechamber.

On one side was a row of long tables lined with wooden benches, and there were several people eating at the tables who looked up when the doors opened. On the other side of the room was an enormous hearth surrounded by an array of mismatched couches and armchairs.

Most of the people in the room took little notice of Soul and Maka’s entrance. Only one of them stood up.

The man was darker than most nordlings, he looked more Zerikannian than anything. His eyes were the same slitted gold cat-eyes that Black Star had. His hair was shorn short on the sides and long on top, the dark brown strands twisted into thick dreadlocks.

He had two swords strapped to his back.

When the man approached them, Maka saw Soul smile. His whole face lit up when he smiled like that. Maka looked at him, a little in awe of how handsome he looked.

“Brother! Welcome home,” the man said in a surprisingly gentle voice. 

He wrapped soul in a bear hug, which Soul happily returned.

“Killik, it’s good to be home,” Soul said and they parted.

Kilik leaned around Soul and looked at Maka.

“Who’s your friend?” he asked.

Soul moved aside, “Kilik, this is Maka,” Soul said.

Kilik held out a hand.

Maka took the hand and shook it as her papa had taught her in one of his visits.

“Pleased to meet you, Maka. What brings you to Kaer Morhen?”

Soul interjected, “It’s the Wild Hunt. They’re after her,” Soul said.

Kilik’s smile dropped.

“Ah, guess you’ll wanna talk to the boss then. He’s down with Stein.”

Soul shuddered slightly and lead Maka down towards the cellar. They walked down the steep spiral staircase and came to a lab.

Stein’s ‘lair’ was the first part of the castle cellar. It looked like a wizard’s set up with jars of preserved creatures, boxes of strange and monstrous ingredients, and stacks of paper piled dangerously close to candle flame. In a hidden corner, behind a ragged bookcase was a small cot for Stein to rest or whatever it is was he did.  
Stein was hunched over whatever research he was doing with Lord Death standing by his side. Neither of them looked up as Maka and Soul entered the room.

“Ah Soul, welcome back,” Stein said and Soul shuddered again.

Stein was a creepy motherfucker. He liked to sneak up on people, it unsettled the majority of the Witchers who resided at Kaer Morhen, especially when Stein got close and ‘jokingly’ threatened to drain their blood.

Although, it may not have been as much of a joke as intended as Stein and Lord Death were researching ways of improving the Witcher formula.

While Stein did not turn around to greet them, Lord Death did. Soul felt Maka stiffen beside him as Lord Death revealed his masked face.

It was a mask made of human bone. No one knows who it belonged to or why the Wolf School leader had chosen it to hide his disfigurement.

And Lord Death was very tight-lipped on it.

“Soul my boy! Welcome!” Lord Death said. “Welcome Maka, I hope the journey here hasn’t caused too much trouble.”

Maka opened her mouth, “How - ”

“Marie called,” Stein cut Maka off, still not lifting his head.

Damn, Soul forgot Marie and Stein had some creepy romance going on.

But they knew about Maka? It was odd for Lord Death to be interested in the affairs of magic.

“Well then,” Lord Death said, breaking the silence that had settled in the room. “You both must be tired. Soul, will you show Maka to a spare room?”

“Yes, sir.”

Dismissed, Soul showed Maka around the castle. Many of the rooms had become defunct as time went on. There was little need for Witchers in this changing world. Work had been scarce for many years now and as a result Kaer Morhen had stopped taking in boys to train in the profession.

With everything happening with the sorceresses and the Gorgon sisters’ betrayal, the magical community was slowly being hunted down by regular humans.  
The humans were lynching and burning elves and dopplers. They were turning Witchers away at the gates and even the Gnomes and Dwarves were having trouble with the humans.

Hell, sorceresses were actively being hunted and burnt in a few of the kingdoms like Redania. There were perilous times with the kings turning against each other and it felt as if there was a war on the sidelines, waiting.

He showed Maka to an empty room. It was free of dust and had a fresh set of bedding laid out. At least there was one good thing to Stein and Marie’s tryst - he didn’t have to clean the room out for Maka to stay in.

Maka sat down on the bedding. She was exhausted and confused.

Marie had never mentioned having a lover. The man she assumed was Stein seemed incredibly strange and definitely not Marie’s type.

Maka missed home even more. She wished she could ask Marie about Stein and why Lord Death was interested in her or the Elder Blood.

Wasn’t he just a Witcher?

When Soul left, Maka flopped down and stared at the ceiling. She processed everything that was Kaer Morhen. It was in ruins from some revolt after Medusa left. Soul explained to her that they had stopped taking students and that had saddenned her.

Despite how empty and broken the castle was, it was still cared for. Maka could see the effort they went to, trying to repair the more used areas. It was kept quite clean considering it was lived in by a lot of men who travelled and killed monsters for a living.

Her head was spinning a little. Maka rolled onto her side and napped.

She woke to a loud knock on the door. Maka sat up groggy and rubbed her eyes.

“Come in,” she said.

Her body felt heavy from sleep and all she wanted to was curl back up and sleep for at least a week.

Soul walked in.

He had cleaned up sometime while she was asleep and no longer smelt of horse and sweat as Maka did.

“Dinner will be soon. Thought you’d need a wake up call?” Soul said, standing by the doorway.

Maka’s stomach grumbled in response.

Soul laughed and Maka stared at him. He looked incredibly handsome when he laughed like that. Maka couldn't help but watch his mouth, shark teeth and all.

She wondered what it might feel like if she kissed him. She had heard Marie talk about romance and how the men would woo the women. Marie talked of what it was like to be kissed and Maka wished she could find out if that were true or not.

“...Maka?” Soul said looking at her.

Shit, he had stopped laughing. She’d been staring a while now.

Maka blushed deeply. Her brain needed to wake up and function now.

“Um…” Maka said, looking at her feet, trying to come up with a plausible reason for giving him moon eyes, “I’ll meet you outside in a few minutes?”

“Sure,” Soul said and left, closing the door behind him.

Maka got up and bolted it. She undressed and washed the stink off herself using the basin in her room. Maka changed into a spare shirt she had washed in a nearby river on their journey. It was stiff and a bit scratchy from the soap, but it was clean.

Maka unbolted her door and stepped out. She saw Soul leaning against the wall.

Soul smiled at her. “Shall we go meet the others?” he said.

“The others?”

“Yeah, you still have to meet Sid and Nygus. Lord Death also said Harvar and a sorcerer are here visiting.”

“Who are Sid and Nygus?” Maka asked as she followed him through the halls.

“Sid is basically Black Star’s dad. He’s another Witcher.” Soul said, “And Nygus is our resident healer. She stays for Sid mostly…” Soul said, trailing off as they got closer to the main hall.

“Oh,” Maka said. Soul had said that technically one of the Witcher Codes was to abandon any ties to others, including family and lovers.

She guessed not many lived by that code…

Maka supposed that was an unrealistic rule as despite their mutations, Witchers were still human. They still felt emotions and attachments like everyone else.

Maka mulled this over as they entered the main hall and sat at a bench by Kilik. She looked down and saw a variety of vegetables and strange fungi on her plate with a small portion of meat. She practically drooled over the plate after many weeks of stews and dried meats.

Soul nudged her gently, forcing Maka to look up at him.

Soul cleared his throat.

“Maka, this is Sid and Mira Nygus,” he said gesturing to the people sitting across the table from them.

Sid was an older witcher; he looked the same age as papa but Maka knew that with Witchers it was impossible to tell. He and Nygus both had the same Zerikanian colouring and features as Kilik. His hair was twisted into tight braids close to his scalp and his forehead was covered by a headband. Sid wore light armour similar to Black Star’s, which made sense with their connection.

Sid was beefy; he made Soul and the other Witchers look small in comparison. Mira beside him looked tiny.

Mira was lithe and thin like Maka, but covered most of her face in a wrapping similar to bandages. She wore simple clothing, trousers and a tunic. Soul mentioned she was a healer but noticed she did not adorn herself with jewels like most sorceresses. And unlike most other sorceresses, Mira had her face covered and not masked in charms to increase her beauty.

Maka nodded at them. “Pleased to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Mira said as Sid began eating.

Beside her Soul began scarfing down his own food. Maka looked back at Mira who rolled her eyes and lifted her cutlery delicately. She pulled the wrappings from around her mouth down.

Maka saw a flash of ugly scars on the right side of her mouth and quickly looked down at her own plate.

Feeling awkward, Maka dug into her own food like a normal human… at first.

Then she was beside Soul wolfing it down with him. It tasted amazing! She couldn’t remember the last time she food that tasted like this. Before she knew it, her plate was practically licked clean.

After Soul had finished his food, he watched Maka. At first she ate her food daintily but after a mouthful began shovelling it into her mouth. Soul almost laughed.

He had known her for a while and there was nothing dainty about her, he had no idea who she was pretending for. Maybe Nygus?

But Nygus had been living at the castle taking care of them for years. She definitely wasn’t dainty or gave two shits about being ladylike.

Soul did laugh when Maka finished eating. She had a bit of food stuck to her cheek which was flushed with embarrassment.

“What?” Maka said, indignant.

“You have, uh…”

Soul, out of instinct (and inability to articulate) moved forward and wiped the stray piece of food from her cheek, brushing his thumb across her cheek.

Maka just stared at him. Were it anyone else Maka would have decked them for getting so close. But she just let him, it almost felt as if she leant into his touch slightly before he pulled back.

Soul willed himself not to blush. Turns out it wasn’t just Maka staring at him.

Part of him wished the Hunt would burst into the halls and drag him out so he didn’t have to explain his weird attraction to Sid when he inevitably cornered him and extracted information about Soul’s feelings for Maka.

He could see Nygus’s eyes. He knew she was smirking under her wrappings. He was going to die from embarrassment. He could definitely feel the hard kicks Kilik was giving him under the table.

“Food. You had food on your cheek,” Soul spluttered and got up quickly, shoving Kilik and taking his plate to the kitchens.

Maka watched Soul go. His ears had gone red.

It was cute.

Maka looked at Sid and Mira.

“So,” Mira said, “tell us about yourself.”

“Yeah, what brings you to Kaer Morhen?” Sid interjected.

Kilik shuffled closer, taking Soul’s place. He looked eager to hear about Maka as well. She didn’t know why. They had far more interesting lives.

Maka sighed told them about her bloodline and the new fate tying her and Soul together. The two sat and listened. Sid’s face was unreadable in the typical Witcher way while Mira looked at her sadly.

Maka didn’t want her pity. Yes, her fate was pretty fucked up but there was nothing she could do and pity wasn’t killing the bad guys.

Soul eventually came back. He was more composed after disappearing into the kitchens. Soul glared at Kilik until the bastard returned to his original seat.

Soul then sat down and rejoined the conversation.

“Any suggestions where to start on the Hunt?” Soul asked looking at Sid.

“If they ever emerge, try asking Harvar and… Ox, I think that’s his name,” Sid said scratching the back of his head.

Maka smiled. That’s where Soul got the habit.

“Yeah, it’s Ox,” Kilik interjected.

“Oh, is Harvar visiting?” Soul asked.

Maka leant closer to Soul. “Who’s Harvar?” she asked quietly.

“He’s from the Viper School. They have a lot of information on the Hunt there,” Soul said back quietly.

Sid watched their exchange before replying, “He is. He’s down in the catacombs. Said they’re looking for information on something.”

“Ah,” Soul replied, “Guess we’ll talk to them tomorrow then.”

For the rest of the night Maka and Soul talked with Sid, Mira, and Kilik. They laughed and teased Soul. It felt like a family.

It felt almost like home.

Soul walked a sleepy Maka up the staircase and toward her room. She had drunk too much mead trying to keep up with their Witcher metabolism. It probably didn’t help that she had barely had any alcohol like, ever.

She was leaning on Soul heavily and mumbling quietly to herself the entire trip. Just before he got her to her door she stopped suddenly.

“Woah,” Soul said, almost losing grasp of her.

“You’re pretty,” Maka said, slurring her words heavily.

“Thank you,” Soul said. He had no fucking clue what to say.

“Like, real fuckin’ pretty.” Maka began to sink to the floor. 

Soul struggled to hold her up as he opened her door. He finally shouldered it open and pulled her inside.

Soul really didn’t know what to say. Maka thought he was pretty? What did she mean by that?

He really liked her and his heart raced a little faster at the idea she might like him back.

But she was drunk.

“C’mon Maka, you need to get into bed,” Soul grumbled and half carried her toward her mattress.

Maka grumbled and whined as Soul gently deposited her onto the bed. She flopped down and stared at the ceiling.

Her boots were still on.

Soul sighed. He moved to the foot of the bed and yanked her boots off her feet. He checked on her one last time left the room with a small goodnight.

Then Soul returned to his own bed and tried to put all thought of Maka’s drunken strange compliment out of his head.

It didn’t work very well.

\--

Maka felt a pounding headache. Her room was too fucking bright and she felt nauseous as hell. She pulled herself upright and rubbed her eyes.

Huh. She didn’t remember going back to her room.

She really did not want to function. Mead was delicious as hell, with its sweet but subtle honey flavour. She couldn’t get enough of it. It made her feel happy, the world got a little more brighter and she felt lighter.

But right now she felt heavy as shit. Like she’d been on the bottom of the Dryad dog-pile and had been kicked in the head a couple hundred times.

Fuck, this sucked.

Someone knocked at her door.

Maka groaned. “Fuck off,” she said weekly and flopped down on her bed.

She instantly regretted it when it felt like her head exploded. Maka cried out as Soul walked in with a cup of water.

“Everything okay?” Soul asked and set the cup down on the small bedside table.

“No.”

Soul chuckled. She was hungover and definitely not happy about it.

“Well, I’ll leave this here for you then,” Soul said and headed to the door. “Let me know when you feel better.”

The door shut and he was gone. Maka pushed herself up and gulped down the icy water. She then slid back down, having learnt her lesson the first time that sudden movement = bad.

She did not want to function today. She couldn’t think without her brain wanting to crawl out her ear. There was no fucking way she was training.

Maka stared at the ceiling and hated everything.

Especially herself.  
She lay there like that for twenty minutes before falling asleep.

When she woke up once more she was hungry. And grumpy as all hell. Her head still fucking hurt.

Fuck. Everything.

Maka pulled on her boots, groaning as the pressure in her head from bending down got too intense. She trudged down the halls towards the kitchen, glaring at anyone who dared to breathe near her, let alone open their fat mouths.

That was where Soul found her. She was sitting on the counter, meticulously pulling apart and devouring a loaf of bread. Somehow she had managed to scare the Witchers on cooking duty into the corner.

He laughed, he had never seen them work so quietly. Some of these men have fought insane monsters without batting an eyelash, but here they were cowering from a tiny Dryad who was currently hunched over her food like some sort of goblin.

Maka looked up and glared daggers at Soul when he laughed.

Well ,fuck. Now he knew why the others were cowering the corner.

That death-glare was unnerving as hell.

...But also kinda cute.

Soul put his hands up as a sign of peace and moved towards her.

“What d’you want?” Maka said, watching him as he approached.

“Was thinking of talking to Harvar and his friend about the Hunt,” Soul said. “Thought you might wanna come too.”

Maka paused and chewed thoughtfully, tilting her head slightly to the right.

Soul watched her and waited for her to answer. He stood there awkwardly.

Finally Maka replied, “Fine. I’ll join you.”

“Okay,” Soul said. “Shall we go then?”

Maka shoved the last chunk of bread in her mouth and jumped off the counter. She walked up to Soul and motioned for him to lead the way.

Which he did.

The catacombs were down in the cellar; they had to go past Stein’s damn lair. It was always traumatising going through there. You either saw one of his experiments or him doing whatever creepy higher vampire shit creepy higher vampires do.

As he got to the cellar door he heard some sort of shrieking and sighed. Maka looked at Soul with alarm.

“You get used to it,” he said, waving his hand in dismissal.

“You what?”

What the hell was that noise and why were they headed towards it, for god’s sake?

Soul just opened the door like it was nothing and walked down. Maka really did not want to follow.

But she did.

And immediately regretted it.

Whatever was strapped to the table was something she could never unsee nor truly process. The minute she took a glance at whatever it was that was shrieking she was shoved through to another door by Soul who was muttering under his breath.

Soul shouldered open the door and pushed Maka through, slamming the door shut behind him.

This room was a lot less traumatic. The shrieks were barely audible through the heavy door. It smelt old in here and it was dark.

“Hey! Harvar!” Soul called out.

There was a rustling noise and a bright light appeared in their field of vision.

Maka shielded her eyes and Soul hissed slightly.

“Soul? That you?” Harvar said, lowering the lamp.

“Yeah. How come you’re here?” Soul asked.  
Maka lowered her arms from her face.

There were two men standing in front of them. One wore Witcher armor and had strange spectacles pushed up on his forehead while the other was wearing sorcerer robes.

The one in Witcher armor must be Harvar. Around his neck was a medallion with a viper head on it opposed to the wolf heads everyone else who lived here wore. He was a tall and lithe man with tan, almost dark, skin and black hair pulled back into a ponytail.

The other man, the sorcerer, looked incredibly odd. While many of the sorceresses altered themselves to look younger and more beautiful, Ox looked plain odd. He was bald save for two long sections of hair on either side of his face which were gelled or magically enhanced to stand at two sharp points. He wore thick glasses that almost hid his eyes entirely.

The sorcerer interrupted Soul’s conversation by clearing his throat. He stepped forward and held out a hand to Soul.

“Greetings, Witcher. My name is Ox Ford,” he said.

Soul blanched for a second before he took Ox Ford’s hand and shook it.

“Soul,” Soul said in reply. “This is Maka.”

“Pleasure,” Ox said, although it didn’t really sound like it was a pleasure.

It sounded like he was a pompous snob in Maka’s opinion.

“So what brings you here?” Havar asked, easing the tension slightly.

Before Soul or Maka could open their mouths Ox Ford spoke, “Clearly they are here for my expertise. Well? What is it you need?”

Expertise! Was he being serious?

What a pompous motherfucker. Seriously, fuck this guy.

They were here to speak with Harvar, you know, since his school had extensive research on the Wild Hunt. Maka couldn’t give two shits about this arrogant bastard.

Maka just wanted to fucking punch the guy.

Maka moved forward and looked at Harvar.

“I need information on the Wild Hunt. I need to know how to kill Asura,” Maka said.

Ox scoffed.

“You?!” he said and chuckled slightly, “You look barely fit enough to lift a sword let alone defeat the Wild Hunt.”

Soul saw Maka’s hand clench into a fist.

He. Was. Fucked.

Maka moved like a snake. In one swift moved she attacked, slamming her fist into his face.

Maka clocked him. Soul watched Ox hit the ground.

Unconscious.

Soul looked up at Harvar, who stood there impassively. Maka moved over to the sorcerer’s unconscious body and Soul had to restrain her.

As much as he thought the man deserved whatever Maka was planning on dishing out, he didn’t think Harvar would take kindly to Maka spitting or worse on his guest.

Maka thrashed a little in Soul’s arms, her anger had overtaken her and she had started drawing on power. He could feel his medallion humming.

Soul held her arms tightly, restraining her and talking to her quietly as she calmed down enough to regain control of herself.

He felt Maka relax in his grip and Soul let go.

Harvar must have felt his medallion hum as he was watching Maka intently.

“You ok?” Soul asked Maka quietly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“My head hurts,” she replied and directed her gaze to Harvar, “Not in the mood for any bullshit today.”

“Right. Tell me everything,” Harvar said.

“I want to stop my prophecy,” Maka said and looked at Soul, “...And his.”

And so Maka explained everything. By the time she was finished Ox started to wake up.  
He groaned and sat up. His nose had been broken and his face had begun to swell. 

“You bitch!” Ox lisped as he felt the damage Maka had done to his face.

Maka picked at her nails and pulled faces at the sorcerer as Harvar talked him down and babied his wounds.

Finally they were back on track.

Ox sulked as Harvar lead them to a makeshift seating area and sat down to explain.

“So,” Harvar began, “The Wild Hunt are not weak to anything per se.”

Maka’s shoulders slumped forward in defeat. If they weren’t weak to anything how was she to fight Asura? How could she stop her prophecy?

Seeing Maka’s reaction Harvar backtracked, “However, I heard of a spell to prevent them from teleporting and travelling between realms.”

“A spell?” Soul asked, leaning forward.

“Yes. It can also weaken their powers as it cuts them off from their own world.”

“That could work,” Maka said. She perked up a little.

This was good news.

“However, it takes immense magic to maintain the spell.”

Soul looked at Maka.

“We need to contact Tsubaki,” he said.

“...If I may?” A voice startled them all.

Stein appeared from the darkness.

Fucking Stein, always trying to catch you off guard. Soul swore he lost several years of his life just being near the man. Damn cryptid creep.

Stein continued once everyone had recovered, “I think you and Maka may be able to increase your strength.”

“How?” Maka asked.

How, indeed?

“In my research I have found that the fake Elder Blood contains a small trace of the original bloodline,” Stein said.

“Your research?” Soul asked, mildly alarmed.

What has he been doing down here?!

“Yes, Soul, my research. Anyway, as your fates and blood are linked there is a possibility that a concoction could connect you two. This connection would share and amplify your power.”

“What concoction?” Maka asked.

Ox piped up from the corner, “Indeed. What concoction, Stein?”

“None of your business,” Stein said, dismissing the sorcerer. 

He turned back to Maka and Soul, “I already have everything I need. It will take a few days to make.” 

Maka spoke up, surprising Soul with her civility, “Thank you. Please let us know when it is ready.”

Stein nodded and disappeared back into the darkness. Soul and Maka finished their conversation with Harvar and a begrudging Ox. They thanked the two and returned to the main hall.

There they found a commotion. Soul approached Kilik.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“You’ll see,” Kilik replied.

And he did see. He saw a blur of blue tackle him to the floor.

Star had come home.

Maka watched Black Star tackle Soul and felt someone behind her. She turned around and saw Tsubaki.

“Hello Maka,” Tsubaki said.

“Tsubaki!” Maka greeted the sorceress warmly.

Black Star finally let go of Soul and turned around, seeing Maka.

“It’s you!” he exclaimed, pointing at Maka.

“It’s me,” Maka deadpanned.

Soul groaned. He hated when Star did that.

He pushed himself up and dusted himself off. Maka looked past Star, at him. He could see the concern in her eyes and shook his head.

He was fine.

“So why are you guys here?” Soul asked, moving to stand beside Black Star.

“Let’s go talk somewhere private,” Tsubaki said as she gestured to the surrounding crowd of Witchers.

All of which were clearly eavesdropping.

“Let’s,” Soul said and lead them somewhere quiet.

They ended up in an empty bedchamber which Tsubaki had dibsed. Inside, Tsubaki gestured for Soul and Maka to sit while Black Star went to fetch fresh bedding.

“As we told Soul at Ellander, we went to see the Thompson sisters,” Tsubaki began, “They and the rest of the Lodge have been tracking the Gorgon sisters.”

Tsubaki paced around the room.

“Once I defeated Masamune, I returned to get an update on their movements. It appears Arachne has called upon the Wild Hunt and intends to summon them to Cintra soon.”

“What for?” Soul asked.

“We do not know. Liz believes her motivations are power-based,” Tsubaki replied.

“And what of Medusa?”

“She disappeared after the Conclave. It doesn’t seem the sisters are working together.”

“But that doesn’t make sense!” Soul said, his agitation was clear, “Why create a fake elder blood then?!”

Maka tried to calm him by placing a hand gently on his arm. Soul looked at her briefly and she felt him relax slightly.

Tsubaki gave Soul a sympathetic look, “Kim believes they are competing with each other.”

“And Arachne’s winning,” Black Star said from the doorway.


	11. Ready the Horses

They spent the remainder of the afternoon and night discussing Medusa and Arachne’s motives, as well as what they should do if Arachne does call the Wild Hunt to Cintra.

Maka informed Tsubaki of the spell Harvar had told them of, as well as the concoction that amplified Soul and Maka’s power.

Tsubaki agreed to inform the rest of the Lodge (whatever that was) of the spell. She expressed her concern to Maka about binding herself to Soul even more than before.

“We are already bound by prophecy, Tsubaki,” Maka said. “If strengthening that bond means giving us an advantage then I will take it. I do not want to die.”

“I understand,” Tsubaki replied.

Maka left the room and headed towards her own bedchamber. Her head was spinning a little with all the information and planning going on. Maka just wanted to crawl into a tree hollow and wait out whatever shitstorm was going to happen.

She so did not want to deal with any of this.

But at the same time, she absolutely had to face the Wild Hunt.

Maka crawled into bed and slept fitfully.

She got up the next morning and groaned. Black Star had invited himself to Maka’s training. Considering how full on he had been in the short time she had been around him…

This was going to be hell.

Maka headed down to the training yard, where Soul and Black Star stood.

“Let’s go, shorty!” Black Star yelled.

Fuck. She was going to die.

\--

Maka dragged herself back to her room to wash. Black Star’s training pushed every muscle Maka had. Her whole damn body hurt.

She longed for the healing waters back home. Instead she bathed herself and flopped onto her bed.

Someone knocked on her door. Maka groaned.

“If it’s you, Black Star, then you can fuck right off!” Maka called.

The door opened.

“Just me,” Soul said.

Maka sat up. “Come in then,” she said.

Soul came in and sat down beside her. He too had washed after training.

He smelt good.

Maka leant into him slightly and Soul returned the gesture.

“You doing okay?” He asked.

“Everything hurtssss,” Maka groaned.

Soul chucked. “Star can be pretty brutal.”

“I’m aware.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a while before Soul got up and left. Maka went to see Tsubaki to ask to learn more magical skills.

For two weeks Maka was set in a routine. Each morning she would train with Soul and Black Star. Occasionally Kilik and Harvar joined her. And then in the afternoon Maka would train with Tsubaki. Then after dinner she would read through the books the castle had on the Wild Hunt.

Her routine was interrupted one morning when they were summoned to Stein’s lab after finished training.

The concoction was ready.

Maka and Soul received the vials from Stein.

“Now it would be best to take this before you enter into any battles with the Wild Hunt,” Stein said.

“Noted,” Soul said and pocketed his.

Maka did the same. They headed up the stairway when Lord Death himself appeared in the doorway.

“Ah yes, you two,” Lord Death looked at them, “We need to talk. Urgently.”

“Yes Sir,” Soul replied and followed his teacher.

Maka had no choice but to follow as well.

Lord Death lead them into a small study where two blond women stood, either side of a black-haired man with three peculiar white stripes in his hair on the right-hand side.

He was undeniably attractive, tall and lithe with a slight point to his ears. He was elven.

How curious.

He was dressed in impeccable black leathers with shiny metal plating in the shape of a skull on both shoulders. Strapped to his back were two swords.

Lord Death shut the door behind them and moved to sit at, what Maka assumed was his desk.

“Liz and Patti here,” Lord Death began, “Are part of the Lodge. They have been tracking -”

“Medusa and Arachne. Tsubaki told us,” Soul interrupted.

“Indeed,” Lord Death said and leant back in his chair.

The taller of the two sorceresses stepped forward. She was wearing a red dress that was slitted along one leg. It was cinched at the waist with a black jewel-encrusted corset that pushed her ‘assets’ up and almost out of the plunging neckline of her dress.

She was gorgeous.

“Arachne has made her move,” she said.

Maka felt a bubble of panic rise to her chest. It was a hot pricking that made her heart beat faster.

She wasn’t ready.

The hunt had been summoned. They were not ready!

Maka couldn’t breathe.

Soul felt his medallion vibrate. Maka was freaking out. She had begun to draw power.

Soul stepped closer to Maka. She was panicking and drawing power.

He feared she may have an outburst which would not end well for anyone in the room. 

Soul slipped his hand into hers and squeezed, trying to reassure her, to calm her.

Maka was losing it.

All she could think of were the worst-case scenarios. They played in her head in a loop. She wanted to hide, to cry. She wanted it to all go away.

Then she felt Soul’s hand pry her fist open and slip his hand into hers. She felt him squeeze it gently.

Maka felt the panic slowly subside as Soul squeezed her hand once more. She was okay.

They were okay.

The black haired Witcher cleared his throat.

Maka’s cheeks grew hot. She had nearly fallen apart in front of a bunch of strangers.

All she wanted to do was hide in her bedchamber.

...Or Soul’s arms.

Maka shook her head, trying to banish the thought.

“What do we do?” Soul asked, breaking the silence.

“Perhaps a meeting with the Lodge should be called. Tsubaki told me of a spell to weaken and trap the hunt. We will need help,” the taller one said and turned to her sister. “Patti, go get Tsubaki.”

Patti raised a hand to her forehead in a mock-salute, “Roger!” she said and almost bounced out the room.

“Kid, perhaps you should speak with the other Witchers,” Lord Death said.

“What do we do, Liz?” Soul asked.

“You two need to stay here. You’re key players afterall,” Liz said and looked at Maka, “We will need to come up with a battle plan. Bring the fight to them.”

\--

Tsubaki, Liz, and Patti stood behind a strange golden staff with a round looking glass attached to the front. Behind the looking glass was an enormous crystal secured in place with a vice. Soul told her it was a megascope, something sorcerers and sorceresses used for long distance communications.

The three of them joined hands and began chanting a spell which activated the crystal. It began to glow, and a beam of light shot from the looking glass. The light transformed into several figures, all of which were standing in a perfect circle. One of the figures Maka saw was Marie.

There was an influx of chatter before Liz spoke loudly, “Sisters! Arachne has made her move,” she said. “We must unite to stop the Hunt from achieving their goals.”

“Oh dear,” Marie said, “Is there anything we can do?”

“We must take the fight to them,” Liz said and crossed her arms, waiting for someone to object.  
“But how?” asked a sorceress with short hair.

“We have discovered a spell,” Liz said. “One to trap and weaken the Hunt’s powers.”

“Then why call upon us?” another sorceress asked.

“We need as much power as we can,” Liz said. “We need to unite to stop this. Or there will be nothing left.”

“I will be there,” Marie said.

“As will I.” Blaire’s figure appeared. 

“Jackie and I shall join you,” the short-haired sorceress said.

“Thank you, Kim,” Tsubaki said.

Several other sorceresses agreed to join and soon the majority had agreed to help.

“Very well. Thank you all for your help in this. We shall be in contact when it is time. Be ready,” Liz said.

The figures faded one by one as each of the sorceresses terminated the spell. Liz did the same with her own megascope and turned to Maka and Soul who had witnessed the whole discussion.

“Our side is ready,” she said. “Now it is up to Kid and you to organise your side.”

“Understood,” Soul said and stood up. He turned around to Maka. “Shall we go see how Kid is doing, then?” he asked.

Maka looked at Liz and back at Soul.

“Sure,” she said and stood.

Maka followed him down to where Kid was, and they got to discussing a plan.

And so it began.

\--

Two days into battle preparations someone knocked on the door of Maka’s bedchamber.

“Come in!” She called out as she finished lacing her boots. She expected it would either be Soul or Tsubaki coming to speak with her.

Instead she was tackled by a blur of red hair. It was her papa!

He scooped Maka into a hug.

“My baby girl!!” he yelled and spun her around.

Maka shrieked and laughed. “Papa, let me go!” she said. She was getting dizzy.

When he set her down, Maka saw Blaire and Marie in the doorway. Her papa stepped back to allow the women to greet Maka.

Both of them pulled her into a tight group hug.

“Oh Blaire! Marie! I’ve missed you so much!” Maka said. She teared up a little.

“I’m so proud of you my little lion cub!” Blaire said, nuzzling her hair.

“We all are,” her papa said. “Come, let Maka breathe.”

Blaire and Marie let Maka go and stepped back.

Maka turned to her papa. “Thank you,” she said.

“Always,” her papa replied.

“Why are you guys here?” Maka asked them.

“For you sweets,” her papa replied and put a hand on her shoulder. “We have come to help.”

“Kitten, Marie and I have bought backup,” Blaire said, “We will keep the others at bay while you focus on stopping your prophecy.”

“We won’t let Arachne’s army interfere,” Marie said firmly.

Maka’s tears overflowed. She buried herself in Blaire’s arms and cried, overwhelmed by the support and love she felt from her family. They were willing to risk themselves so she could reach Asura without trouble.

She sobbed, Blaire petted her hair until she calmed down.

Maka pulled back and hiccuped. She wiped her eyes.

Maka spent the better part of the morning with her family. She introduced her papa to Soul, and she nearly hit him when he threatened Soul’s manhood should he ever touch his ‘precious princess’.

“Stop it, papa!” she said and smacked him upside the head. 

She may be glad he was here but that did not mean she was okay with him threatening Soul and yelling at full volume about her ‘precious purity’. 

Her papa backed off, whimpering sadly at Blaire’s side.

“Spirit, leave the boy alone, our kitten likes him,” Blaire purred.

Maka went red beside Soul. She wanted to die.

Soul just laughed.

They merriment and teasing was interrupted when a portal appeared by the entrance of the main hall.

Two women stepped out. One was the short-haired sorceress. She had bubblegum pink hair. The other had dark long brown hair.

Both were wearing light armor.

Something was wrong.

“Kim! Jackie!” Liz yelled, running toward the two.“What’s going on?”

The portal shut behind the women as Liz approached.

“Medusa has joined Arachne. We must act as soon as possible,” Kim said, her voice grave.

Liz turned to her sister, “Patti, call the others.”

“On it!” Patti said and ran to Lord Death’s office where the megascope was.

Kid came up to Liz. “Can we teleport everyone there?” he asked.

“If we do it together, yes,” Kim said and looked at Liz.

“Call Lord Death,” Liz said to Kid. “It’s time.”

Everything turned into chaos. People were rushing to their rooms to gather their things. The Witchers were donning their armor and strapping their swords to their backs.

The Dryads had come inside and were standing with Blaire, awaiting the portal.

Maka ran to her own room to grab her bow and the armor Blaire had bought for her.

“Maka, wait!” Soul said running up the stairs. In his hand was a bundle.

“Soul, what’s wrong?”

“You might need this,” he said and handed her the bundle. Inside were two swords.

“Soul…” Maka’s voice cracked.

“Now get going! We have a battle to get ready for,” he said.

Maka ran the rest of the way to her room and threw on her armour and strapping her quiver to her back. She attached her bow to a harness.

Maka ran back down stairs with the sword bundle in her hands. Soul was waiting at the bottom for her.

“I can’t get the sheath on. My quiver…” Maka said.

“Oh! Hold on,” Soul replied and ran to the amory.

I few minutes later he came back with a hip quiver.

Maka transferred her arrows to the new quiver and undid her old one. She strapped the hip-quiver in place and Soul helped her pull on the sheath. He held it in place as she buckled the strap across her chest.

“Got it, thanks,” she said turning around.

They ended up almost nose to nose. He was much closer than she thought.

Soul stepped back awkwardly. He wished he could have lent forward and kissed her instead of stepping back. But now was not the time nor place for feelings.

They had a battle to win.

“Can you reach back and pull your swords?” He asked.

Maka reached back and unsheathed her new silver sword.

“It’s heavier than the ones we’ve been training with,” she said and tested its weight.

Soul was worried. What if the swords were too heavy for her to fight?

“Are they an issue?” he said, barely concealing the concern in his voice.

“No. I will adjust,” Maka said. “Thank you, really.”

“Anytime,” Soul said softly and held out his hand. “Ready?” he asked.

“Ready.”


	12. Snakes and Spiders

Soul and Maka stood at an enormous portal in the centre of the courtyard. Witchers and Dryads alike were running through into what Maka assumed was Cintra. On either side of the portal was Kim and Marie, fueling it with their magic so it would remain open.

Soul slipped his hand into Maka’s.

And then they ran. Straight through the portal in out into Cintra, weapons at the ready.

And out into complete chaos.

Arachne’s followers were everywhere, fighting against the Witchers and Dryads.

Soul pulled Maka through the fray. She saw the sorceresses all running or teleporting to different locations surrounding the castle. Closest to Maka was Tsubaki who was being protected by Black Star.

Behind her, Maka heard a roar. She saw Kim riding atop a massive armored bear - armor very similar to the what Jackie had been carrying when the two arrived.

Soul pushed through even further. Maka saw her papa, Blaire, Havar, Ox, and Kilik around her, protecting her and Soul from any attacks as they headed to the Wild Hunt.

They approached the throne room, where the Wild Hunt was said to be. Maka and Soul found Kid and Lord Death standing over a body.

“Arachne,” Soul said and stopped dead in his tracks.

“It was Medusa,” Kid said.

Medusa? Why the fuck would Medusa kill her sister?

Didn’t she team up with Arachne?

“Why?” Soul asked angrily. “What the fuck is she planning?!”

“Soul, you need to calm down,” Lord Death said.

Maka saw his pupils widen and his medallion vibrate. He was going to have an outburst!

Maka squeezed his hand tightly. He looked over at Maka and she saw his medallion stop. He was okay.

“We need to find them,” Lord Death said. “Someone saw her lead them through to the roof.”

“We will start there then,” Stein said, scaring the shit out of everyone.

Everyone present ran toward the gardens only to be intercepted by two knights in strange armor.

“It’s them,” Soul breathed and readied his sword.

“Keep moving!” Stein said and pushed Soul and Maka forward. “I will handle this.”

Stein struck like a viper. Soul pushed Maka forward and up the stairs, leaving the higher vampire to fight the two by himself.

Maka hoped he would be okay….

The potions!

Maka stopped. Soul almost ran into her.

“Maka, what -”

“The potions! We forgot to take the potions!”

“Oh shit.”

She pulled a vial from her pockets and Soul did the same. There was no time for caution, Maka yanked the cork out and swallowed the contents in one mouthful.

It tasted awful.

She saw Soul shudder and felt strange. First it was a tingling sensation that turned to a roaring in her ears. Maka felt immense and overwhelming power that caused her and Soul both to stumble up the stairs slightly.

All the hairs on the back of her neck raised, she felt lighter and faster. She felt powerful. Connected.

She felt an intense wave of stress and fear, and anger that did not come from her. Maka looked over to Soul and could feel his admiration for her.

It was a hot, soft feeling. She could feel so much from him. It was an onslaught of emotion, of longing, of fear and of determination.

He was determined to survive this fight.

After taking the potion Soul was hit with waves of unknown emotions. Emotions that belonged to Maka. It felt as if she were shouting them in his head almost.

He felt her fear for her family, for the Witchers and all those she cared for currently in battle. He could feel her fear for the battle ahead. He could feel her intense determination as he was sure she could hear his own.

They both cared deeply for each other, Soul could feel her admiration and attachment to him. But the most driving force behind Maka’s emotions was an unwillingness to lose and her unwavering hope for a better future.

They pushed forward, racing up and up until they reached the doorway to the roof. It was wide open, revealing Asura and a few of his men standing around a short blonde woman and a boy with shoulder-length hair.

It was the boy from her dreams!

Maka burst out onto the roof without thinking.

“It’s you!” she yelled, pointing at the boy.

Everyone turned to her.

“Maka!” Soul hissed.

Maka felt a chill run down her spine as Soul saw Asura.

Fuck!

Maka heard the others coming up the stairwell behind her. Before she could turn or act, both she and Soul were thrown into the wall.

Medusa lowered her hand and turned to Asura.“Now, let him open the portal, just as prophecy foretold,” she said.

Maka watched in horror as Asura approached the boy with his sword drawn.

With a flick of the wrist, Asura sliced the boy across the cheek.

The boy screamed.

Maka screamed. She saw black smoke curling from the wound which oozed black blood.

Holy fuck! Black Bood!

He was the fake who would take her place, not Soul! They had it wrong! Soul was merely the prototype to the boy.

They needed to stop him! To save him!

Maka tried to push herself up from the ground but one of the Hunt stalked over and shoved her back down by the throat.

Power coursed through her as she struggled for air. Maka reached for the power and pulled it to her.

Gasping for air she pushed the power out, trying desperately to make the elf stop.

And she did.

There was a force that threw the elf into the air. Maka sucked in air and coughed as Soul stood to defend her, having cut down his own attacker.

Kid and Lord Death came up the stairs and started swinging.

Maka couldn’t focus on that. She needed to get to the boy.

She weaved and dodged between the fight, trying to get to the centre where Asura was still cutting away at the boy, forcing more black smoke to manifest.

Just as she got to them, the power exploded around them. 

Maka was knocked to ground. The force coming from the boy was heavy. She could barely push herself up. Around her, tears in the sky began to form, opening voids into a deep darkness that terrified Maka.

Maka crawled her way to the boy. He continued to scream in pain as more black smoke poured from him.

She pushed herself up and and trudged through the inky smoke, trying to fight against the pressure.

Then someone grabbed her by the hair.

Medusa.

Maka screamed and tried to break free, grabbing the top of her head to try and ease the pain. Medusa dragged Maka from the boy, toward the battlements.

Maka kicked and fought, but there was nothing she could do. Medusa was going to throw her off the castle.

She was going to die!

In a desperate attempt to break free, Maka reached one hand into her boot and pulled out a knife. She hacked at her braid, sawing through the strands of hair to break free.

Maka sliced through to the other side and staggered backwards. She turned to run when she saw a black spiked tendril rush past her.

And impaling Medusa.

The tendril shook her limp body and flung it off the edge of the castle.

Maka needed to get to the boy. Fast.

She ran back towards the cloud of black smoke which surrounded the boy. His scream had turned monstrous and the black smoke solidified. Masses of black liquid tendrils ripping open the voids even further.

Maka needed to stop him!

A shadow crossed Maka’s path. She looked up to see one of the Hunt standing over her, sword raised.

There was no time.

Soul saw Maka in danger. He felt her intense panic and desperation through his own emotions. Soul didn’t even think, he ran to Maka and swung at her attacker, blocking their blade. He parried as Maka scurried away and toward the boy. 

Soul managed to cut his opponent down and turned to return to where he and Lord Death had been fighting Asura and his other men.

Just in time to see Asura’s sword impale Lord Death.

No!

Soul yelled as Asura pushed the sword deeper into the Witcher’s chest. Soul ran to try and catch his mentor, his father figure, but he wasn’t close enough.

Lord Death hit the ground. He was gone.

Soul’s legs gave out from beneath him. He watched Asura saunter towards him, bloodied sword raised in triumph.

Soul screamed.

And his vision went black.

Maka heard Soul scream. She felt a surge of intense and overwhelming grief that caused her to stumble.

Lord Death was dead.

She felt Soul pulling power. Black smoke rose from his wounds and poured from his mouth. Power exploded from him, throwing the leader of the Wild Hunt backwards.

Black Spikes shot from Soul, blindly attacking anything in their path, as Soul slumped forward.

Maka needed Soul to snap out of it.

“SOUL!” She roared, trying to bring him back.

He had lost control.

Maka screamed his name again.

She couldn’t wait. Maka turned and ran into the centre of the haze.

Finally, she had reached him.

Maka reached out to touch him. To make him stop, to calm him.

The minute she made contact a loud roar erupted from outside the black smoke.

The boy stopped screaming.

“Please!” Maka said, shaking his shoulders slightly, “You have to stop this!”

“It’s you,” the boy said and cocked his head to one side.

He wasn’t all there. Fuck.

“Please!” Maka pleaded. She could see the shadows of the Hunt coming through the haze.

Worse still, Maka felt the icy touch of the void. Above her was a gaping mouth of nothingness, opening wider with every minute.

They were running out of time!

And Asura had broken through the smoke.

Months of training had helped improve her reflexes but it wasn’t enough. Asura’s blade sliced Maka’s side as she dodged his incoming attack.

Maka screamed.

Soul heard Maka scream and felt a white-hot pain in his side.

He felt a rushing sensation as the darkness left his vision. He felt himself return to wherever he had disappeared to, just in time to see masses of black spikes that surrounded his body dissolve into black smoke.

Maka needed him.

Maka rolled out of the way, dodging a second blow that would have pierced her heart.

From the ground Maka threw as much power at Asura as she could, pulling strength and energy from Soul.

It barely made a fucking dent!

The boy watched on passively. Maka dodged another blow and turned to the boy.

“Please! Stop this!” Maka cried. “You have to stop!”

The boy watched the girl fight. He had seen her in his dreams, always surrounded by hellfire. Above her stood a demonic woman, claws outstretched, trying to catch the girl.

In his dreams the girl always won. The woman never managed to catch her, the girl always disappeared as the clawed hand slammed down just where the girl had been.

He had always wished he could be like the girl. Instead he was here. Trapped.

Always trapped.

The boy watched the girl fight the leader of the Wild Hunt. He watched her dodge and parry with a sword too heavy for her. He listened as she begged him to stop.

Stop what?

Wasn’t this just another dream?

“LISTEN TO ME!” the girl screamed as Asura sliced at her, cutting her arm.

The boy felt power pushed at him. He felt her anger and despair. He felt another’s desperation. 

And he saw.

Outside, the world was falling to pieces. The darkness, the black blood inside him, was destroying everything.

He needed to stop this. To save her.

The boy took a deep breath.

And jumped.

\--

Maka felt something hit her in the back.

It was the boy!

The smoke around her thinned and disappeared. The boy staggered from behind her and launched himself at Asura, impaling himself on Asura’s blade.

Maka screamed.

The leader of the Hunt staggered backwards from the force of the boy and both toppled backwards.

Into an open rift.

The minute the boy disappeared into the void with Asura the rift above them began to seal. As did many of the others, vanishing like a spent portal.

It was over.

They had won. The boy had saved them.


	13. Epilogue

Maka hitched her pack higher on her shoulder. Her bag was fucking heavy; she wished Soul would hurry his ass up.

He was taking his sweet time savouring that beer. She knew he could feel her impatience. She could feel his amusement and smug satisfaction. That asshole.

She was eager to return to Brokilon. It had been quite a few months since the battle of Cintra. Maka had missed Blaire and her Dryad sisters.

She was just waiting on Soul to take payment for taking out a fiend. It had been a hectic contract and Maka was glad to relax for a few days before they took on another job.

The tavern door opened and Soul stepped out. When he saw Maka he smiled and jingled the heavy purse at her.

“Finally!” Maka laughed.

She and Soul walked to where they had hitched their horses, bumping shoulders playfully.

“So where shall we go next?” Soul asked.

“Brokilon, you ass!” Maka said.

“I know, but where to after that?” 

“I don’t know?” Maka said, “Wherever the work takes us I guess.”

Maka thought for a moment as they mounted their horses.

“Maybe we could go to Skellige? I’ve always wanted to go, since y’know, my mama was from there,” Maka said.

“We can do that,” Soul said and spurred his horse forward.

Maka thought as she rode. It had been a crazy few months. She and her papa quietly abdicated their roles as rulers, as they had not been ruling for many years and her papa preferred being a bard to a king.

Maka had her own goals.

She finished the training as a Witcher all the way up to where she would normally have her trial of grasses. However Soul and Kid (who had taken over the wolf school seat) refused to administer such a trial.

The old ways were dying. The need for Witchers was dying out as the humans developed the land and formed pacts with the more sentient of the creatures that roamed their world.

Instead Kid stated her as a Pseudo-Witcher. Maka would henceforth be allowed a medallion and the title.

With her newfound freedom and profession, Maka had made it her goal to travel as much as she could, seeing the world as she had always dreamt of when stuck in the forests of Brokilon.

With Soul by her side of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a ride and a half. Blood of a Lion Cub is my second ever resbang and it turned into an absolute monster! I really hope everyone enjoys the story.
> 
> I wanted to say a massive thank you to my beta for saving my ass on several occasions, as well as my artist who has created some amazing artwork for this story.
> 
> Also thank you to my bf for being a supportive trooper, dealing with my breakdowns and getting me into the Witcher-verse in the first place.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this story :)


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